The Beast of Lima
by Dante Andy Anderson
Summary: What if the witch who was supposed to cast a spell on Quinn ended up casting it on the wrong person because she was distracted? Well, that's exactly what happened and now Rachel Berry is the victim of a curse she knows she'll never be rid of because after all who could ever learn to love a beast?
1. Chapter 1

**THE BEAST OF LIMA**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except this Storyline and plot. Glee (TV Series), Beauty and the Beast (Movie), Glee Fan Trailers on Youtube, All Music mentioned all belong to their respective labels and what not.**

 **Rating: M**

 **Warning: Scenes of Violence, Bullying, and Language. Do Not Read if you're easily offended.**

 **Genre: Drama, Supernatural, Angst**

 **Era: AU WMHS – Post WMHS**

 **Notes: Beth doesn't exist in this story. Quinn never cheated on Finn with Puck, but she almost did.  
Also, I'm making Quinn's parents nice and good people. So no bad Russel in this one.**

 **Ships: Quinn/Rachel, Brittany/Santana**

 **AN: Hello everyone, I must say that I'm quite stuck in a rut with writer's block (sort of) with regards to my other four stories and for that I apologise I know quite a few of you are anxious to see where the tales are going next, but I don't want to write a new chapter for any stories if it means it won't meet my own standards of being good enough because you all deserve better than that; so to those who are following the other tales that still need to be completed I ask for your patience and I thank you for it.  
For now though, I hope you'll enjoy the start of this new story.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Prologue in the End...**

Dying at such a young age was not something that Rachel Barbra Berry ever thought would happen to her, then again she never thought that she'd be the victim of a curse gone wrong.

As she lay in the shallow puddle with the night sky clearing away the rain clouds from earlier to reveal the stars she let out a sigh as she felt her breath become slower.

She was going to die and there was no one to save her.

She supposed that at least this way she went out with a bang, she went out saving someone she loved whom she knew never really loved her back at all; but that still gave her some peace in the lonely world that she had found herself thrown in because she figured that even if she wasn't loved back, she had enough love to help someone else even if it was at the expense of her own life.

Like you read, Rachel was the victim of a curse, oh yes, a curse. The witch had been aiming her spell at Quinn and got distracted and the spell had hit Rachel instead. Unfortunately once the curse was cast it could not be reversed and Rachel was given a rose that wouldn't bloom until her twenty-first birthday; once she turned twenty-one she was told that the petals of the rose would start to fall. If she didn't find love before the last petal dropped she would be doomed to be as hideous on the outside as Quinn was on the inside forever.

She knew that she should have tried better but deep down she felt, no, knew that it was pointless. Her fathers had abandoned her when they saw the scarred figure that she had become, they wanted to give her plastic surgery, make her beautiful; but the surgeon had told them that doing so would risk her life. They wanted to do it anyway but Rachel refused as did the doctor. Angered by what they called her selfish personal choice, her fathers bought her an apartment for her to be on her own in Lima Heights, no Adjacent was at the end of that name. This was an area of Lima that no one wanted to be in, it was bad and it was nasty and if someone died, well, it was a norm for everyone anyway.  
Her parents had told her that for her best interest she should stay in that apartment and never leave. But she didn't want that. She didn't want to give in just yet, she wanted to live free of a cage that they had wanted to put her in.

So they left her, telling her that she could do whatever the hell she wanted but they didn't want a part of it, they'd send her money of course, keep some sort of appearance and all that but they didn't want to be a part of her life in great detail. They also did the one thing that they could think of to make her realise her selfish mistake, made her sign papers to become an emancipated minor, but hey at least they sent money to her they had said.

Rachel had internally scoffed at that, they were never really a part of her life anyway when they learnt of her treatment at McKinley High.

See her Daddies were winners, they were both former jocks, and as life went on they became pretty wealthy and powerful; so powerful in fact that no one dared cross them when they became official with their relationship because in the end money always talks and drones only cared about the dollar they could make from having influential friends.

School was no better for her, before the curse she had been bullied, after the curse, she was still bullied even worse if her memory was correct as her life began to flash before her eyes. It was a lonely life mostly, even after school had ended and she went to college, life was still lonely. Sure she eventually had some friends in the form of Tina, Mike, Sam, and Brittany, but they appeared later on in her life and they didn't always have a chance to be around her, lord knows she knew that they needed a life away from her, a life away from the beast.

'The Beast of Lima', Santana had called her, 'A creature that terrified everyone because she was too ugly,'

It wasn't like that statement wasn't true, the first time Rachel had tried to go anywhere, children had started to cry as they pointed and stared at her. Mothers had pulled their children away from her as they themselves looked scared that the brunette would try and do something to harm their children. Of course Rachel knew that in the world as it was and always is, beauty on the surface always won because people never see beyond the cover, they never look beyond the front of a book. She knew that she was doomed from the moment she was cursed that she would never find love, never find the type of love she craved so much since the day she understood what it meant to be hugged and loved purely because she was who she was.

She let out a deep sigh as her memories took her to Quinn, another sigh, she loved Quinn, she really did. She remembered the girl that Quinn was in High School, and she thought about the woman that she had become now. The Cruel Quinn of High School had disappeared over time, the Ice Queen was no more and was replaced with someone more caring, more loving. That thought made Rachel laugh bitterly as she reminiscent that Quinn would never fully understand how much she had meant to the dying brunette, how she would never realise how much Rachel had wanted to be the one who would hold her hand and tell her with no fear how much she loved her, but Quinn didn't love her, she knew that.

And as she sighed and looked into the night sky she wondered, reflected, 'Why? Why was she always alone? Why did no one love her? Why? What had she done to deserve such a fate?'

"I suppose it doesn't matter," she said to herself, "Even if someone tried it wouldn't have worked because let's face it, no one could ever learn to love a beast,"

And with that she sighed as she closed her eyes and felt her heart beat slower.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there you have it, the next chapter will go back to the start of the tale. Until next time team.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Hello everyone, Happy New Year.

Now before you start this chapter, I forgot to mention in the last chapter that the Faberry won't happen for a bit. It's just how this story works, but the Faberry will eventually happen. And yes, this is obviously AU, so some people in the story are meaner than they are on the show...if only by a bit; so yes, this tale will also be angsty and a couple of things (say the majority of it) will be different than from the show. And no, Sam isn't at WMHS just yet.

Also, thank you to the people who have placed a review; I got an email saying that I had received a couple of reviews from viewers, however when I went to reply to you with a thank you the website said the reviews didn't exist and that it's invalid. So I'll say it here, thank you very much for your reviews, they are greatly appreciated.

 _Italics_ = Flashback

Okay, with that all said, enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

As any tale one supposes that we should start at the beginning just before the curse took place.

Life was as it always is for Rachel Barbra Berry, one tortuous day after another. Her mornings were usually filled with nothing because her Dads ignored her most of the time and at the times when they did talk to her it was to make sure they reminded her that she had to become a someone in order to get their approval.

 _"You should have joined the Cheerleading Squad, in fact I don't understand why you chose that Glee Club instead, it was social suicide," Hiram had said to her disapprovingly as he glared at her over his newspaper._

 _"I love singing, besides those Cheerleaders are horrible people," Rachel had answered, "I don't want to be with a group like that,"_

 _"They do the necessary thing of weeding out the weak from the strong, the winner from the loser, you should stop being such a loser,"_

 _Rachel had winced at that._

 _"What your father means to say Sweetie," LeRoy interjected, "Is that we don't understand why you chose what you did,"_

 _"Because singing is more than just a thing to me, it's my life, if I didn't have my voice then I would be nothing," Rachel had answered._

 _"I'll never understand you," was all Hiram had said._

 _'Maybe you should have tried,' was what Rachel had thought out and wished to say but couldn't._

As for her school life, well, it was always one lonely day after another. When Glee Club had formed she had been excited at the prospect that there would be others like her who needed a place where they could belong; a place where they could express themselves and be exactly who they were and accepted for it. But it wasn't, she should have seen it coming she supposed to herself, while the others did find the place of solace and acceptance in the club, she was never one to belong anywhere no matter what she had tried. At first it started small, the odd argument here, the slight backlash there; eventually it became rejection and alienation as the New Directions crew became more confident and Rachel was now certain that if it wasn't for her voice she would have been kicked out a while ago.  
The Glee kids just plain didn't like her. She had tried to explain that the only reason she wanted them to work harder and work as a team on their dances, their song choices, and their pitch; it was because she was a driven individual, she had to succeed to show her fathers that she could make it, but they never listened because unlike her, singing wasn't their lifeline.

Because of this the bullying just got worse, there were some in Glee who would look at her in pity but they'd never say anything. Their Glee director William Schuester also did nothing but belittle her or yell at her whenever he felt she spoke out of turn but damn it if the same was done to her he would just let it slide without a care in the world. Rachel knew that she obviously didn't matter but she didn't let that deter her too much, she still tried her best in singing so that she could pretend that even for that small moment she belonged.

Though right now, she must admit, she didn't feel like she belonged at all as she was cleaning slushie out of her hair since she had just finished cleaning it out of her clothes and had changed.  
This time the perpetrators were members of Glee Club itself, namely Kurt and Mercedes led by Puck. Their reasoning was that since she was the loser of all losers it was basically open season on her and no one would care. And they were right, no one cared. They just laughed at her. When she looked around for help, she saw Finn looking at her but not saying anything as the conflict of what to do was going through his mind before Quinn tried to get his attention. Tina had the look of being unsure of what to do and Mike wasn't around. But everyone else laughed, especially Santana. Brittany was no where in sight.  
Rachel sighed as she exited the bathrooms, 'Why am I always left out?' she wondered to herself before her thoughts were interrupted when a loud argument was heard coming from Quinn's Locker.

"I can't believe you cheated on me," Finn yelled, "And with Puck,"

"I didn't cheat you, I almost did, we pecked, that's it, I just wanted to come clean, Frannie was being horrible again and I just, I needed someone and you weren't listening to me, you blew me off" Quinn said back.

"You still went to him though, that's just, that's messed up,"

"Because you never listen Finn, all you care about is you, I needed you to be there for me and all you cared about was your dick and your magazine,"

"I was having me time, it's not like I get anything from you,"

"I needed you to be a decent boyfriend and you just acted like a jerk,"

"Hey, don't do that crap with me, it's not like you care for anyone but yourself too,"

"Hey, I could have whatever guy I wanted, and I certainly could've scored a guy whose brain cells weren't dead as yours but I still chose you,"

"Whatever you still went behind my back with Puck,"

"Oh like you're completely innocent, I heard about you and Santana,"

"Nothing happened,"

"The hell it did, you slept with her,"

"We weren't dating at that time and I wanted to know what it was like and you wouldn't put out,"

Quinn paused as she glared at him, "So you basically screwed her because you wanted to know what it was like and you couldn't wait for me, fine, whatever, you're still a liar no matter when you two first did it, I asked you to tell me if you dated or slept with anyone, you said no, therefore you still lied, so can it,"

"I, well,"

"Plus I know you went behind my back with her, she told me so herself, you two screwed in the classroom last week,"

"And you believe her?"

"I heard you two and I saw, trust me, you wanna know why Santana was sporting a black eye this past week and is at the bottom of the pyramid? It's because of me, and I told her that if she EVER does anything like that to me again, she'll wish she never came to McKinley, as for you though, you're an idiot if you think you can just get away with stuff,"

"You know what, I went to her because she at least does stuff, you're boring, at least Santana is truthful about herself unlike you, you know what, I don't want to be with you anymore,"

"Fine we'll break up, see how well you go without me, we're over Finn because I deserve better than you,"

Quinn hissed as she turned to storm off.

"Yeah, well, I, uh, you'll come crawling back," Finn snapped back.

That made Quinn turn to glare at him, "Future reference Frankenteen, I don't need you as much as you need me,"

And with that she stalked off, "Out of my way you eavesdropping Ru-Paul," she said as she shoved Rachel into the locker.

The brunette felt her back hit the lockers hard making her let out a pained yelp.

"Rachel, you okay?" Finn asked as he walked up to her and helped her up.

"Yeah, nothing I'm not used to," Rachel replied, "I wasn't intentionally listening by the way,"

"Oh, so uh, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to my locker to put my things away and then we have class,"

"We do?"

And just as he said that the bell rang.

"See," Rachel said to him with a suppressed smile, "I gotta go,"

"Oh hey Rachel, um, you wanna, you know, hang out some time?" Finn asked.

"If you're asking me to be your rebound then the answer is no, see you in class Finn," Rachel said as she walked away leaving Finn slightly perplexed and wondering if Quinn was right about him being worse off without her.

"You should've taken his offer Hobbit," Santana mocked as Rachel walked towards her locker.

"Why? It wouldn't have been for a good reason anyway," Rachel said as she turned to look at the Latina behind her.

"Because it's the best you'd be able to do, you know, getting Fabray's leftovers, trust me, with that ugly looking schnoz of yours you're never gonna get anyone,"

Rachel didn't know what to say to that.

"I don't think she's ugly at all S, you're wrong," Brittany piped up alerting the two to her presence, "In fact, can you stop being so mean, please,"

"If it's her then we're not being mean, we're being real, let's go," Santana said as she walked away expecting Brittany to follow her.

"You're better than you think, okay Rachel, you're beautiful and you shouldn't let anyone tell you that you're not, you're as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside and anyone who can't see that is stupid," Brittany said as she patted Rachel's shoulder comfortingly.

All Rachel could do was look stunned as the tall blonde walked away from her.

-page break-

During lunch hour Rachel snuck into the choir room to sit under the piano alone. The only problem was it seemed that someone was waiting there for her.

"Hello Rachel," the male's voice said making her scream.

"WAH! JEEZ, sorry," Finn said as he rubbed his ears, "I didn't mean to scare you,"

"Oh god there's going to be an avalanche of slushies coming my way isn't there?" Rachel said as she covered her head.

"Uh, no, just me,"

"Oh, why?"

"Listen, I know you think you're going to be a reject or whatever," Finn started.

"The word is rebound," Rachel corrected but a part of her couldn't help but laugh internally, for all his faults, Finn could be rather adorable.

"But I do want to hang out with you," Finn finished as he ignored her correction.

"Since when? You never really talk to me, you don't ever defend me, why the interest all of a sudden?" Rachel asked as she crossed her arms.

"Okay so I know it looks bad but seriously, I mean, I can be your friend right? And we've got to start somewhere, and now that I'm alone and I don't really have anyone to hang out with on my weekends either, I mean, you, we could hang out and be friends right?"

"Finn..."

"Look, I know a part of you likes me, why not take this chance? Besides you're cute,"

Rachel raised an eyebrow at that though she wondered how Finn knew about the fact that she still kinda liked him.

"I, uh, please?" Finn asked.

"Okay, sure, this weekend?" Rachel asked, "But as friends, okay, I don't need Quinn trying to murder me,"

"She won't, besides she's gonna go with whoever else she can get her hands on,"

Rachel sighed as she nodded her head, "Okay, okay, I'm game for this, where are we going?"

"Um, uh, I'll pick you up at your place at about six this Friday, give me your address, and I'll take you to Breadsticks,"

"I'm a Vegan, I can't eat there,"

"Lima Bean Cafe?"

"Closed for the time you're suggesting,"

"Oh, Nacho Shop,"

"Can't eat there, their stuff isn't Vegan friendly or Kosher,"

"They have salad, you can eat that right?"

"Why don't we just go to the arcade? I know the guy behind the counter, he can help me with food,"

"Cool, see ya then, well, you know apart from when I see you at school and stuff,"

Rachel just rolled her eyes at him while another part of her still felt excited that she would have someone to spend the weekend with.

'Perhaps I'll get a friend after all,' she thought as she sat down under the piano and ate her meal.

* * *

 **AN 2:** So, next chapter we will get the ball rolling a bit. Enter the witch. Until next time team.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Hey all, so it seems that the reviews still aren't showing up on the site, but they are being emailed to me so I can at least see what's being said about this current story. Firstly, Thank You to those who took the time to review they are nice to read, though honestly I hope that FF fixes the problem so I can just thank you and answer questions via PM.

Secondly, to the reviewer who asked if this would be a g!p, sorry, no it won't be. Sorry.

Thirdly, to the reviewer who wrote in Spanish (I had to use a translate site - Lol); well, um...hmm, you'll see what the witch does if you haven't already read the summary in full.

Enjoy the new chapter team.

* * *

 **Chapter 3:**

Rachel walked slowly to school the following morning, worried. Something wasn't right about the day at all, she could feel it in the pit of her stomach. She should've stayed home but she couldn't, she had to go to school and learn.

So she soldiered on and kept walking to school.

"HEY FREAK, YOU SHOULD STAY AT HOME!" someone yelled as they laughed at her and tried to throw something at her but missed.

'Neanderthals think they're so smart and clever, unoriginal I say,' Rachel scoffed in her mind as she watched the jocks drive by.

You'd think that having rich parents would make her have some friends even if they were fake or at least make her untouchable but nope it didn't. After all when it became obvious to almost everyone that Rachel didn't quite have parents who loved her to bits they figured it'd be the perfect opportunity to just be mean to her until she caved...or something.

'In fact why do people even bully others, some don't even do it to make themselves feel better because they themselves are down, it's all about the power they feel they get by belittling someone else? What did they hope to bully me into? Death? As tired as I can be at times I really don't want to consider that,' Rachel mused to herself as she entered the school with a sigh.

She hoped today was going to be a good day.

SPLASH!

'Or not,' Rachel sighed as she went to her locker and ignored the laughter around her.

Once there she grabbed her slushy kit before making her way to the bathroom.

As she was half way through cleaning herself she heard the bathroom door slam open.

"YOU!" she heard Quinn say angrily as the blonde marched up to her.

"Please not today Quinn, can't you just leave me alone?" Rachel blurted out in a begging tone.

"Listen here Man Hands, we're going to have a smack down,"

"About what? What about my existence pisses you off today?"

"You're alive for one, but right now, I heard that Finn's going to take you on a date,"

"He is?"

"I knew it,"

"I didn't say that as a statement, I said that as a question,"

"Whatever, you are not allowed to go near him,"

"Why?"

"Because you're a loser,"

"Look he approached me, okay, besides we're not going on a date, we're going to the arcade, that's it,"

"If I so much as hear that you..."

"Quinn, there's nothing you can do to me that will make my life any more miserable than it already is,"

That statement left the blonde stunned for a moment before she regained her composure, "Oh I'll find a way to make it much worse, remember that you're a loser and if it wasn't for your stupid voice, no one would want you,"

"I already know that," Rachel said quietly.

"Well, I'm glad you do,"

Rachel didn't say anything as she grabbed her things, finally changed, as she exited the bathroom.

"Hey we're not done here yet," Quinn said as she followed the brunette.

Rachel tried to ignore her.

"HEY!" Quinn said as she spun Rachel around roughly, "You listening?"

"Yes, okay, I got it, no dating Finn or you'll somehow make my life a hell hole, I got it, now leave me alone," Rachel begged.

"Whatever," Quinn said as she shoved Rachel hard against the locker and started to walk away, unaware of the figure that was observing her and glaring at her angrily.

"Oh you are a horrible person," the figure said to themselves as they sadly looked at Rachel, "This has to change, Quinn needs to learn, I'm going to make her learn,"

As the figure turned towards Quinn and raised their hands, they began to mutter a spell.

"If a beast you are on the inside a beast you should be on the outside, until true love truly finds you may the beast forever bind to you, come now be as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside say hello to the beast," The figure said as they then started to point their hands towards the blonde.

"HEY B!" Santana said loudly enough to give the blonde a fright as her hands moved away from Quinn's direction the spell hit someone else.

Rachel screamed as she felt herself being pushed back into the lockers as her skin began to burn.

Quinn turned for a moment but decided it was best to walk away, she couldn't show compassion, not to Berry.

"What the hell? B?" Santana started then cowered as Brittany glared at her.

"Go away, I have to do something," was all Brittany said.

"B?"

"Go, Now!"

"Okay then," Santana said confused as she retreated.

"Oh my god, Rachel?" Brittany started as she raced to the poor girl on the floor, "C'mon Rachel, let's go back to the bathroom,"

"Brittany? Oh my god, it burns, something's wrong with me," Rachel asked in pain.

"I'm so sorry Rachel, I just, I wanted to teach Quinn a lesson but the spell hit you instead, I just, I'm so sorry,"

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked as the two entered the bathroom and Brittany shut and locked the door.

The brunette just looked at the blonde who pointed at the mirror.

"I'm so sorry," Brittany said apologetically.

Rachel gasped and then cried as she touched her own reflection and looking at her badly scarred face. Her brunette hair was now short on her right side as a large scar was seen running from the back and base of her neck all the way up the right side behind her ear up her skull and stopping right at her forehead. Her right cheek wasn't fairing much better with three of what looked like scars from being scratched by a lion ran up them. The left side of her face had marks as if she suffered from third degree burns. The bridge of her nose had what looked like a metal clasp on it with a part of the wiring that ran under her nose and went upwards weaving in and out like a pattern passed her eyebrows and partially embedding themselves in the large scar on her head. And her body itself became hunched as if in agony. Her right hand had shrivelled a bit and her nails became like claws.

As tears ran down her face, Rachel slowly looked down her top to see that the scarring had continued throughout her body here and there. Also with some of what looked like the metal wiring that was trying to hold the scars together. Her four cuspids were slightly elongated and made it look like she had animal fangs.

"Brittany? How? Why?" Rachel stuttered as the tears kept falling.

"I'm a witch, or an enchantress, no matter how you put it I have magic in my veins," Brittany answered.

"But me, why?"

"It wasn't meant to be you," Brittany said quickly, "I wanted to curse Quinn, to make her see her true self, to be as ugly on the outside as she was on the inside, but as I cast the spell Santana distracted me and I hit you instead, I'm so sorry,"

"Brittany, reverse it, please, I, I already had a hard time getting people to like me, you have to change me back, please," Rachel begged.

"I can't, the curse is set," Brittany said sadly.

"How do I change back?"

"Love,"

Rachel just looked at her, "Brittany, not even my parents love me, how do you expect me to find someone who'll love me now that I look like this,"

"It can't be love from your parents it has to be from someone who isn't related to you, someone who will love you purely for being you," Brittany said as she moved her hands in a motion and made a rose appear and then presented it Rachel, "This rose will bloom on your twenty-first birthday, from there you'll have one year until the last petal falls to find someone who'll love you, if they tell you that they love you then the spell will be broken, but if you don't find someone who'll love you when the last petal drops you will forever be cursed, I'm so sorry,"

Rachel broke down and cried as she sat on the floor, "Brittany, no one liked me for me before let alone love me, who's even going to look at me now?"

Brittany didn't know what to say as she sat down next to the brunette and held her, "There will be someone out there for you, this I promise you, and until that day I will be there with you when you need me, I promise," she whispered.

The two were quiet for a while as they thought the situation over, and then Rachel realised she didn't have a way to explain what had happened to her.

"Brittany?" she started.

"Yes?" the blonde said as she looked down at the brunette.

"Do people know about your magic?"

"No, they're not supposed to, well, except Santana, but she knows everything about me, Quinn knows too, but they've never asked me to use my magic for their own advantage, and even if they did, they'd know the answer would be no,"

"Wow, I thought they would,"

"Surprising isn't it?"

"Yeah, um, Brittany, we have a problem," Rachel sniffed as she rubbed her eyes with sleeves, sat up, and then looked at Brittany, "What am I going to say happened to me?"

"I don't know, accident?"

"People saw me coming in to school looking normal,"

"Quinn also saw you get hit by something, we'll blame it on whatever that is,"

"Prank gone wrong I guess, it's not like it wouldn't be an impossibility," Rachel sniffled as she leaned against Brittany and then started to cry again.

Brittany chose that moment to not say anything as she went back to comforting the poor brunette.

-page break-

Realising that they had missed one class, the two opted to go back to Rachel's locker and put her things away. Before Brittany turned to look at her again.

"Hey, I'll be right back, okay? I have to go to my locker and get some things, I'll take that rose with me and I'll put it inside something safe, I know I have something in my locker, and then I'm taking you to my house, okay," she stated rather than asked.

"Okay, but why?" Rachel asked.

"Because my mother might know a way to help you, it's a small chance but it's something,"

"Okay then," Rachel nodded as she watched the tall blonde's retreating form as she obediently waited at her locker.

"Who the HELL are YOU?" she heard one of the jocks gasp and she shrunk at that. She had forgotten that the classes had ended.

"Holy crap, that's Berry, the hell happened to you?" Karofsky said in shock.

"Looks like someone threw her through glass and burnt her, HAH!" Azimio laughed as he pushed Rachel into the locker making her slip onto the floor as the students including a few Cheerios started to surround them.

Rachel looked around for someone to help her, anyone, but all she saw were people whispering about her looks and how ugly they found her. She knew that no help would come from them. She began to lose hope until she spotted Finn.

But he did nothing but frown and stare at her and then decided that he'd do nothing as the people around her started to mock her a bit.

"Wow, you look like shit," Santana laughed as she joined the crowd, "What shall we do with her?"

"Wow, new look," Quinn said, "Interesting, maybe we should give you a nice slushy to celebrate this new look,"

Rachel sent Finn another look but he ignored her as another of the footballers dumped slushy on her head and everyone laughed and walked away.

"Now you look exactly as you should," Quinn laughed, "Welcome to the Suck,"

"Man, if only B could see this, she'd be laughing at the Hobbit," Santana laughed, "I wonder what phrase she would have used,"

Rachel didn't hear more as everyone started to walk away and only Finn was found lagging behind as Rachel stood up and sniffed, "Why didn't you help me?" she asked.

"You're um, you're, well, I just," Finn stuttered.

"What?"

"Sorry, I wasn't sure if it was you,"

"You should've helped regardless of who it was, you're the captain of the football team,"

"I, well,"

"Why were you such a coward?"

"Hey I'm not a coward,"

"Then why didn't you stand up for me?"

"I, because,"

Rachel sighed as she turned away and opened her locker again, "Um, so, about tomorrow," she stared only to hear Finn gulp a bit.

Rachel looked at him before asking, "Is something wrong?"

"I have plans for that night so I can't go a date with you," he blurted out.

"It's not a date, but what type of plans did you have?"

"I, with Puck,"

"Oh,"

"Yeah,"

"Maybe another time?"

"Can't, busy with you know, football and stuff,"

"Finn?"

"You're also kinda not pretty anymore, so I don't really want to date you let alone get in your pants, I mean before you were cute and I was hoping to date you and stuff but you're just, I don't know, you're just ugly," Finn said quickly as he started to back away.

"But I'm still the same person I was yesterday, looking like this doesn't change that," Rachel said stunned.

"No you're not, you're just ugly," Finn said as he finally hurried off.

"But?"

"God Yentl, desperate much," Santana laughed as she walked passed Rachel with Quinn and shoved her.

Rachel then realised that the two had been eavesdropping and were probably waiting for the moment when they would have her alone.

"Now Finn will never look at you Man Hands, in fact, now you'll die alone," Quinn laughed too as she snapped her fingers for someone else to throw a slushy into Rachel's face.

The jock who happened to be walking passed gave it no thought as he hurled the cold beverage into Rachel's face making her gasp and jump a bit.

Rachel put her face in her hands and cried.

* * *

 **AN 2:** Yep, people are horrible. Progressions do take time though so bear with it. Until next time team.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Prepare for a long AN. Whoo, wow, okay, so the Review thing still isn't fix, HOWEVER, you guys have been awesome and here are some answers to the questions that were asked in the reviews that entered my email.

 **1.** Most of you asked: How did the curse affect Rachel? After all if the curse was supposed to affect Quinn and make her as ugly on the outside as she is inside then how could it happen to Rachel?

Wah! and Eep! Good question. When I started writing this story all I honestly thought about was making Rachel the cursed one as that rarely happens and I figured that it'd be an interesting take to the tale as opposed to going for the obvious and making Quinn the beast. Also, I thought to myself, 'Hey, curses gone wrong has happened before, this could be interesting,'  
Because of this I set out the story plan already (I usually always have a plan - so please bear with a very mean Quinn, she will change eventually - for example); and I figured, good, I have my template and my plan, I got this - all I need to do now is revolve the story around said plans.

What I didn't think about is what you guys had pointed out...HOW?! So I hum and I harred and I've come up with an answer in the story and I hope that it's okay.

 **2.** If Brittany wants to be Rachel's friend, where was she when Rachel needed her?

Good question. I have been operating from the point of view that Brittany was unsure of her powers at an earlier age, the crew are only around 15-16 years old, which was the age most were (character wise) when they were going to Nationals in New York. So I will work around that in this chapter as well. As to where she was for Rachel, refer to the answer in question 3.

 **3.** How can Brittany still be friends with Quinn and Santana?

I think sometimes we stay friends with some people because we believe that they will change and a part of us gets scared to leave them because it's all we know and we're afraid that we'll be left alone and have no one. It's not a good excuse by any means at all, but it does happen.  
But whether Brittany continues a type of friendship with the two remains to be seen.

Also, just to let you know, Quinn and Santana will take a while before they get even a little bit close to being in Rachel's good books, at least that's what I was aiming for in this story.

 **4.** How is Rachel so forgiving?

There are some people in this world (and I've met a few of them) who are among the most forgiving people I've ever seen regardless of their upbringing and their current predicament. They are not door mat people by any means, but they choose their wars and they have said before, 'Why should I stay in a cage someone else tries to put me in,' or something like that. In the long run though, forgiving is not forgetting and while Rachel is a forgiving person it doesn't mean that she'll necessarily allow anyone to get too close to her just yet.

I hope that this answers your questions for now, please bear with the story as it progresses remember that this is only early days and only day two of the world in this story itself and is only up to four chapters; I will however state that there will be one more thing Quinn tries to do to be mean, but as to whether or not she'll be able to carry out said mean thing will remain to be seen by you all when I write and post things up.

Oh, and before I forget, Brittany's mother is my head canon version - meaning just imagine an older version of Brittany and that's what she'll look like. To me anyway.

Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 4:**

As Brittany walked away from Rachel to retrieve some items from her locker she was filled with a sense of dread and she wasn't quite sure as to why until she opened her locker door and the bell rang.

"Oh no," she said out loud to herself as she started to move as quickly as she could. Most important thing to do was make sure she had a magical case for the rose so that even if it got knocked about the petals wouldn't get damaged. Brittany knew that if the petals had gotten damaged then the spell would stick regardless of whether Rachel turned 21 or not. She retrieved the glass case as quickly as possible from her locker and placed the flower inside and cast a spell on it so that it wouldn't break as she put the rose into her bag and retrieved a few books she'd need for her homework tonight.

As she hurried as quickly as she could passed the students who were rustling in the hallways she managed to catch the tale end of the conversation.

"Now Finn will never look at you Man Hands, in fact, now you'll die alone," Quinn laughed too as she snapped her fingers for someone else to throw a slushy into Rachel's face.

Brittany watched as The jock who happened to be walking passed gave it no thought as he hurled the cold beverage into Rachel's face making her gasp and jump a bit before the tall blonde could do or say anything.

She ran up to Rachel as the brunette put her face in her hands and cried and gave her a hug.

"Brittany, the hell do you think you're doing?" Santana asked with an annoyed tone.

"Get out," Brittany hissed making the two look at her.

"What?"

"Get, Out,"

"What?"

"I SAID GET OUT, GET OUT OF HERE, GO AWAY," Brittany screamed as Santana stumbled back and looked at her in shock, "Just go away, both of you, get the hell away from her and go away,"

"B, you can't be..."

"GO AWAY!"

Not knowing how to react Santana just walked briskly away as Quinn just looked at Brittany.

"Are you deaf?" Brittany asked angrily, "I said go away,"

"What are you..." Quinn started.

"I Said Go Away! Don't make me ask you again," Brittany hissed as Quinn just rolled her eyes and walked away.

Rachel looked up stunned as she saw the tall blonde breathing hard and huffing.

"Brittany?" she started.

"I'm so sorry, I'm an idiot, I shouldn't have left you alone," Brittany said as she looked at Rachel, "I should've told you to come with me, I am a naive fool,"

"Brittany..."

"No Rachel, no, you shouldn't be calm about this,"

Rachel just shrugged as she stood up and wiped her tears.

Brittany looked at her sadly and sighed as she took the girl by the hand, "Let's get you cleaned up, I'm taking you back home with me and then I'll take you home,"

Rachel physically shuddered at that.

"Or you can stay with me," Brittany offered.

"No, no, I'll uh, I'll go home, I'll have to face my fathers like this sooner or later I might as well do it now and get it over with," Rachel sniffed as the two entered the bathroom.

Brittany just nodded her head as she helped Rachel clean up.

"Why me?" Rachel muttered more to herself than to Brittany, "And how?"

"I don't know Rachel," Brittany said, "I don't even know how, I shouldn't have cast that stupid spell but I was so sure I could do it right, I was just, I was tired of watching you get hurt and not doing anything about it any more that I just wanted to do something and I got too confident, I'm..."

"Don't say sorry any more Brittany, what's done is done and there's nothing we can do about it," Rachel cut the tall blonde off.

Brittany just nodded her head at that.

-page break-

The drive back to Brittany's home was a quiet one and slightly tense on Brittany's part.

The tall blonde wondered how she was going to explain all of this to her mother. She knew that she was going to be punished for this mishap, she knew that and she accepted it. It was her fault that this happened. But she mainly worried about Rachel. How was she going to help the brunette with her predicament? After all love just couldn't be forced it had to be nurtured and the tall blonde worried that it wouldn't happen at all.

That thought frustrated her and made her angry. Rachel had never done anything more than be herself and she was being punished for it. Crappy fathers who loved their image and money more than their child, (Brittany often wondered why they bothered having a kid at all), a school full of useless teachers who did nothing for her, and school peers who either ignored her, hurt her, or just watched as she was hurt.

Brittany sighed again as she pulled into the driveway of her house.

When she got out she let out another sigh as she opened the door to her home.

"Mama?" Brittany called out as she opened the door to her home, "I'm home,"

"I'm in the kitchen Brittany," her mother called back.

Brittany waved or Rachel to follow her into the house as the brunette obliged and followed Brittany to the kitchen.

"Mama, I did something bad," Brittany said straight away.

"I'm sure it's not bad," her mother, Susan Pierce, said as she shut the oven door and turned around.

"Trust me, it's bad,"

Susan Pierce wondered what was going on until Rachel walked into the kitchen slowly, her head looking down.

"Oh my dear god," Susan breathed out, "Brittany?"

"I wanted to curse Quinn and it backfired, Mama, help me please, help me fix her," Brittany begged.

"Brittany, you have to tell me exactly what you did and how," Susan said before she looked at Rachel and said, "As for you dear, please, take a seat, you must be tired, being cursed on can do that, and I'm also going to bet that you're hungry,"

Rachel just nodded her head before saying, "I'm uh, may I just have water?"

"You don't want anything else?"

"I have certain dietry needs so I'm not..."

"She's a Vegan," Brittany said as Susan let out a sound of understanding.

"I only have fruit at the moment I'm afraid," she said, "Here, some strawberries,"

"Thank you," Rachel said as she took them with a glass of water.

"Now Brittany, explain," Susan said as she looked strongly at her daughter.

Rachel sat down at the kitchen table as Brittany started her story, about how she was tired of seeing Rachel hurt, about how she wanted to do something but let popularity and fear get in the way, about how Quinn and Santana were in the school, and how everyone treated Rachel, and how in the end Brittany was so sure of her powers that she wanted to teach Quinn a lesson but it had backfired.

Needless to say, Susan Pierce was horrified at all this as she glanced between Rachel, who just shrugged her shoulders at her, and Brittany who was looking more guilty by the minute.

"Why didn't you tell someone?" she finally asked her daughter.

"Because the teachers won't do anything, they're all scared of Coach Sue and in the end they don't like Rachel because she dreams bigger than they can teach," Brittany answered.

"And why didn't you do something for Rachel earlier? Why are you even friends with those two girls if they're so mean?"

"I always believed that they could change Mama, I really wanted them to, I even tried to persuade them that Rachel was a loving soul who needed friendship when it was just us three but they never did listen to me, so I figured that I was going to step away and reach out to her,"

"And why now?"

"Because I'm tired of them Mama, I tried really hard but nothing is changing for Rachel and I think it sucks, I wanted there to be change,"

Brittany's mother just shook her head for a moment before saying, "I don't understand how you could like, let alone love, that Latina girl, I've seen her and she's horrible, as for that Quinn girl, her parents are so good and so loving of all people that it makes me wonder why her and her sister are so bad,"

"Quinn just needs to learn a lesson, that's all, she needs to change her perspective and attitudes, it's why I wanted to curse her, as for Santana, there is good in her Mama, I see the good in her, but she's afraid of being seen as weak,"

"That gives her no excuse,"

"I'm still trying to think of a way to help her learn a lesson but I can't think of anything,"

"Brittany, stop," Susan as she looked strongly at her daughter, "Clearly your powers just aren't good enough, I'm not saying that as a mean thing but as a reality, you are still learning, what were you thinking?"

"I just wanted to help Rachel and teach those two a lesson, starting with Quinn,"

"You should have talked to me,"

Brittany just looked away. Rachel had stopped eating and drinking and was wondering what she should do about the situation as she looked between the mother and daughter.

"I'm sorry, I know now that I should have, but I was so sure that I would get it right, I don't even understand how Rachel could even be cursed," Brittany said as she looked back up at her mother.

"I am going to go on a whim and say that it is probably because in the end you are still young and still not fully in control..." Susan started.

"Does that mean perhaps I am also ugly on the inside?" Rachel interjected.

Susan looked at her for a moment before saying, "No, I don't think so, I can see ugly people and I don't see that in you,"

"You were never ugly Rachel," Brittany added, "To me you were always so beautiful, you were like this flower that bloomed in adversity but no one ever stopped to appreciate it because to them you're just a flower, they don't see anything they don't want to see,"

"Thank you Brittany, I don't think anyone's ever called me beautiful," Rachel thanked.

"It's the truth, I have a long way to go in showing you how sorry I am that you had to endure all this pain, even before the curse, but I promise you now that I will do my best,"

Rachel just gave her a small smile.

Susan just smiled at Rachel before her eyes became sad, "I think you are cursed Rachel because the magic wanted this to happen after Brittany had that mishap,"

"How? Why?" Rachel asked.

"Magic isn't just incantations, spells, sorcery, whatever the world thinks it is, it is more than that, magic is a flow of energy, of power, it is ethereal, and it is very much alive and mysterious, some people call it fate or fates, others destiny, whatever it truly is it also has a will of its' own, sometimes it can seem completely crazy that when something goes wrong that the magic allows this to happen but here we are, there is always a reason behind the madness and perhaps this is a storm you will have to wait out and be patient with, it is not fair by any means but it has happened and there is nothing that can change this curse,"

"But you won't have to go through this storm alone, I promise you that," Brittany said.

"It doesn't make me feel any better," Rachel said.

"And I don't mean it to," Susan said, "But it is a possible explanation for now,"

Rachel just nodded her head as Susan turned to look at Brittany.

"As for you young lady, I am thinking of a punishment for you right now," Susan said strictly as Brittany just gulped.

* * *

In the end Brittany was punished by means of her magic being sealed for two weeks. Meaning she wasn't allowed to cast anything, learn any more magic, and have anything to do with the world of magic; she also wasn't allowed to consult on the matter of magic with her fellow witch Tina Cohen-Chang either, that revelation made Rachel's jaw drop but she couldn't say anything as Susan Pierce still wasn't done punishing her daughter. On top of the magical ban, Brittany also had to do extra chores around the house and was banned from seeing Santana and Quinn outside of Cheerios (not that she minded that one too much), and she had her cellphone taken away which would be returned at a later date.

A fair enough punishment in the Cheerio's eyes and she admitted to Rachel on the drive back to the brunette's house that she had expected far worse.

"What could be far worse than all of that?" Rachel asked.

"The Elders could come in and take my powers away all together," Brittany said.

"Oh, I see,"

And as the two fell into a small silence, Rachel broke it again by saying, "I can't believe Tina has powers too, why hasn't she ever done anything?"

"She has, remember the time when Coach Sue had never ending balls crashing into her wherever she went and when she went to her office and opened drawers and all that?"

"Tina did that? Wow, so why hasn't she done anything else?"

"Because unlike me, she knows her limits and she won't test it,"

Rachel just nodded her head as Brittany pulled up to her house.

"You want me to be there with you?" Brittany asked.

"No, I must do this alone," Rachel said strongly.

"If you're sure,"

"I am, thank you Brittany, at least I have a friend out of this now,"

Brittany just gave her a small smile, "If you need anything, call my house, okay,"

Rachel just nodded her head as she exited the car and watched Brittany drive away.

She took a deep breath as she turned around and entered the house only to be greeted by, "What the devil happened to you?"

* * *

 **AN 2:** And we'll end things here. I hope you found this chapter enjoyable, until next time team. Next chapter we'll meet her fathers properly.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Whoo HOOO! The site is back up and running properly so now I can answer questions that people have in reviews via messages. (Unless you disabled that ability then I obviously can't).

So, something that was also brought to my attention is Brittany's current relationship status with Santana. At the moment they're not actually girlfriends at all, in fact Brittany is in love with Santana and Santana just can't admit that she does love Brittany back so the two aren't quite together. As to whether or not they get together in this story is...well, I'll let you keep reading, I'm not giving that away. (My apologies for not pointing that out either - sigh - I must always remember that obvious to me is not obvious to the readers unless stated in the story).

With regards to Rachel, yes, she's a bit of a tragic character here, but things will eventually change.

And for those of you who are Sam Evans fans, he will be making an appearance soon in the next few chapters.

Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 5:**

Rachel cringed as she entered her house and shut the door.

"Well, answer me," Hiram said as he looked at her with a mixture of disgust and shock.

"A prank went wrong at school," Rachel lied.

"What?"

"A prank went wrong and this happened,"

"Get in the living room, now,"

Rachel did as asked as she went to the living room and sat down opposite LeRoy who was sitting in his arm chair and reading the paper.

"Hello Daddy," Rachel said as she looked at him and lowered his paper and yelped in shock.

"Who the hell are you?" LeRoy yelped.

"Rachel, a prank went wrong at school," Rachel said as she looked at him collect himself.

"What the hell kind of prank did this?"

"A bad one,"

"I, I, oh my god, Hiram, look at her,"

"I know," Hiram said as he sat down in the arm chair next to LeRoy.

"What are we going to do about this?" LeRoy asked as he looked at Hiram and Rachel sat patiently in front of them looking slowly from one father to another.

"Well, firstly we're going to take her to Doctor Phillips and we're going to make her get surgery, we cannot have a daughter looking like this, bad enough that she's not a top anything in that school,"

"I sing well," Rachel offered only to be shut down.

"Yeah, in a club that didn't even win a simple contest last year,"

Rachel closed her mouth dejectedly as she sat and waited.

"And then we're gonna make her go to a life coach and make her become a winner, I'm sick of her being at the bottom of a school that should've been so easy to climb the social ladder of," Hiram said.

"So, no suing the school then?" Rachel blurted out in a very monotone.

"What?"

"Nothing,"

"That's what I thought, now come on, we're going to the doctor, now,"

Rachel groaned silently to herself as she got up from the chair and followed her fathers to their car.

-page break-

Test, Rachel hated medical tests. Always touching and moving, with the pricking and the prodding, she just loathed it. But she still went with it. Maybe if magic wouldn't let her be normal again, surgery would. Though she doubted it.

And after about an hour and a half of testing she was now waiting in the doctor's office for the results.

Her fathers were becoming impatient.

"Well? Can you fix this or not?" Hiram asked.

"This is a complicated case, internally all her organs are working fine, but I'm afraid that some of that metallic material has gone through her organs," the Doctor started.

"Look, I don't care about her insides or her organs or whatever, I want to know if you can fix this, I mean look at her, LOOK,"

Doctor Phillips let out a sad sigh as he looked at Rachel who didn't look back at him.

"LOOK AT HER," Hiram said angrily, "She doesn't want to live like this, fix her, skin grafts, face transplant, whatever she needs to look even half human than this, this, thing,"

"Well, like I said, her body is still functioning the same but if we operated she could possibly die," the Doctor replied.

"Then we'll take the risk," LeRoy said too.

"I agree," Hiram said, "I mean she'll take that risk too, she doesn't want to live like this,"

"Wait, What?!" Rachel snapped as she finally came out of her slight daze, "No, I mean no, I don't want to do anything if it means risking my life,"

"You will do as you're told,"

"I don't want to take that risk," Rachel said, "I refuse,"

"Look, we'll go to another Doctor then if Phillips won't do this,"

"No, absolutely not, or would you rather have a dead daughter than an ugly one?"

Hiram and LeRoy paused.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Rachel said as she stood up, "I said no, and I mean no, I'm not doing this surgery, I'll be at the car, Doctor Phillips, thank you for your time,"

"Any time Rachel," Doctor Phillips said as he watch Rachel storm out of the office.

"This isn't over, we'll get someone to help her," LeRoy said.

"Without her consent, no, you won't," Doctor Phillips said.

As the Berry men followed their daughter to their car, Hiram spoke out first, "Rachel, sweetie, we'll go to someone else,"

"No, I can't do this, you really mean that because I'm such a loser and such a disappointment in your eyes that instead of even thinking about suing the school or helping me or pulling me out of that screwed up place you'd rather place me with a life coach and make me go through life threatening surgery? I mean, seriously?" Rachel said back strongly.

"Hey, don't use that tone with us,"

"Well I'm sorry your grace but I'll use whatever tone I want because this has been one heck of a day and is all kinds of messed up that I'm stressed and I'm tired and I'm afraid and instead of being there for me the first thing you want to do is fix your screwed up kid,"

"Look, we just want you to look better,"

"Yeah, you've been saying that to me since I was twelve, fix your nose Rachel, you should consider a bit of lipo Rachel, Rachel join the cheerleading squad, Rachel do this, Rachel do that, but never once in my entire life have you ever, EVER, asked me what I wanted to do with my life, not once have you EVER praised me for any type of achievement, why? Because I'm just a disappointment because I could never be like you two," Rachel spat as she opened the car door and slammed it shut.

Hiram looked livid, LeRoy just shocked and as the men got into the car Hiram looked at Rachel and said, "You're being selfish,"

"I want to be alive,"

"You're being a selfish little brat,"

"I agree with your father on this one Rachel, stop being selfish, take the surgery," LeRoy said.

"No,"

"Selfish child, you know what we should do?" Hiram stated rather than asked.

"What?"

"You want to disobey us so much, fine, we're going to think of a punishment for you and you're going to abide by it,"

"Whatever," Rachel huffed as she folded her arms as LeRoy drove the family home.

-page break-

Rachel wasn't allowed to go to school for a couple of days as her fathers forced her to stay home as they thought of a suitable solution. Eventually they thought of one.

"Rachel, come here," Hiram said as Rachel walked passed the living room to go to the kitchen.

"Yes?" she said as she entered.

"Sit,"

"Okay," Rachel said as she sat.

"Sign these, and then these," Hiram said as he threw a folder of papers at Rachel and let them land with a soft thud on the table.

Rachel frowned as Hiram threw a pen at her that she caught with her good hand.

"Just sign them," Hiram said.

Rachel looked at the papers, one said 'Emancipation of Minor' and the other 'Tenancy Agreement'.

"You want me to sign these so you can get me out of the house?" she asked.

"You wanted to be a selfish adult, so here you go, you can become your own person and move the hell out, we found a nice apartment in Lima Heights," LeRoy said.

"Is there an Adjacent anywhere in that name?"

"No,"

"You're going to make me move to a place where murder is a norm just because I don't want to have that stupid surgery?"

"To be blunt, yes,"

"How do you think this is going to look when people find out you're making me do this?"

"Oh Sweetie," Hiram started in a patronising tone, "You really think that your father and I haven't already sorted all this out? Hmmm?"

"I, how am I supposed to live? I'll have no income," Rachel asked as she looked at them holding the papers in her hands.

"We'll still pay for you, the story goes you were being a stupid selfish little brat who wanted us to let you have your own place, so you moved to a place that would allow you to be as far away from us as possible where you can get your damn drugs and we're the loving fathers who will be waiting for you when you decided to clean up your act,"

"So you're just going to lie to people?"

"To save our image and make us still look like good parents? Of course,"

"And me? Don't you guys even love me enough to just be there for me?"

"If you loved us you'd do as we ask, get the surgery, become beautiful,"

"Brittany told me that I was always beautiful, even before this,"

"Well she lied and she's an idiot,"

Rachel gripped the pen in her hand tightly in anger as she took the papers and signed them, "There, happy?"

"Yes," Hiram said as he snatched the papers away, "Now we'll take you to your new place,"

It wasn't long before Rachel packed what she could in ten minutes before Hiram and LeRoy drove her to where her new home would be. She looked out the window with a sense of detachment and sadness as they finally pulled up to her place.

"Here, your key, Room 119, Level 2, we furnished the place and all that and there is food for a week for your stupid Vegan diet, money will go into your bank account every Tuesday, and for your sake stay away from people and that school," Hiram said to her.

"I'm not going to stay in a cage you wish to force me into, I'm going to stay in school," Rachel said defiantly.

"Do whatever the hell you want," LeRoy said, "We are done with you,"

And with that the two men re-entered their car and drove away, leaving Rachel all alone.

The brunette found that she couldn't even cry at this moment, was she so detached from her parents that she couldn't even cry that they had abandoned her? She sighed as she opened the door to the apartment complex and walked in. It was a little run down but she didn't mind that as she climbed up the stairs and tried to find her room.

She heard a little girl gasp at the sight of her and as Rachel just turned to look at the child the girl ran screaming in fear to her mother who came out to see what had happened, took one look at Rachel and slammed their door shut.

'That hurt,' Rachel sighed to herself as she found her apartment and entered it.

The place wasn't overly large, it had a small kitchen, a small living room, two bedrooms (though why two she didn't know), a laundry room in the bathroom, and there was a large window that gave her the view of the park.

Again the brunette sighed as she flopped down on her new old couch and looked around, noticing for the first time that the rose that Brittany had given her had magically appeared on the mantel piece in the living room.

"Welcome to your new life Rachel Berry," she said out loud to herself.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there are her Dads. Just a heads up, times are still in the angsty stage and we'll also see Brittany's punishment from the Elders and how Rachel deals with that. Also, her status with New Directions will happen in the next chapter. Until next time team.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** Whoo, no notes this time so...bring on Chapter 6. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 6:**

The next day rolled over quickly as Rachel woke up dazed and slightly confused as she took in her new surroundings before remembering where she was and why.

"Ow, neck, neck, neck," she grumbled to herself as she sat up and realised that she had fallen asleep on the couch, "Ah, right, couch, neck,"

She got up and stretched as best she could before going to the fridge and getting her breakfast.

"Well, at least they stocked it well with Vegan stuff," she said to herself as she got her breakfast, ate it, and then prepared for school.

Just before she walked out the door though her phone rang.

"Hello?" she said.

 _"Rachel? Hey, it's Brittany, you okay?"_ Brittany was heard asking at the other end.

"Uh, yeah, hi Brittany, I'm okay,"

 _"Want me to pick you up? we can go to school together,"_

"I don't live where I used to,"

 _"Oh, then where do you live,"_

"It doesn't matter, I'll walk and then bus to school,"

 _"Rachel, I'm coming to pick you up, where do you live?"_

"Brittany..."

 _"I'm not taking no for an answer, where do you live?"_

"I, okay, I live at 415 Maple Drive,"

 _"In freaking Lima Heights?"_

"Yeah,"

 _"Why the...okay, I'm picking you up and you can fill me in on the details, okay,"_

"Okay Brittany, see you soon,"

-page break-

As Brittany picked Rachel up and drove her to school, the two started talking as Rachel told Brittany about what had happened the prior day.

"That sucks, they're assholes...sorry," Brittany said as she kept driving.

"Yeah, I know," Rachel sighed as she leaned her head against the window.

"You should come live with me, Mama and I have the room after all,"

"I suppose, what will your father think?"

"If he was alive I don't think he'd mind either,"

"Oh, OH, I'm so sorry, I didn't know,"

"No one does, well, except Santana, I don't like to talk about it,"

"And that is fair enough, I'm sorry,"

"Don't be, Papa lived a good life but sometimes things happen, he died because it was his time and I accepted that, it sucks, but I accepted it,"

"How long ago?"

"When I was about nine,"

"Was he magic like you?"

"Yes, he was more on the alchemist side and that's what interested me, but after he passed, I sorta looked at it but couldn't, did you know that he once turned a pile of grass in a plush duck for me? Just to teach me the basics, I love that duck, it smells like freshly cut grass,"

Rachel smiled at that as Brittany turned the corner to continue driving to their school.

"So, what do you think? Do you want to come and live with me?" Brittany asked.

"I think I'll pass," Rachel said.

"Why? I mean if you're afraid of what Santana thinks then I couldn't care less,"

"It's not that, my fathers have this grip on this town and I'd rather not risk your family,"

"Rachel I may not be that smart to some people, but I know a lie when I hear one, truth please,"

"I just want to be in my own place, you know,"

"Okay then, why?"

"This feeling, I just, a part of me just wants a time out from everyone and now that I have a home that I can just go to with no obligations from parental figures, somewhere where I can be me, even if it is going to be lonely, I just, I want that, for now anyway,"

"Hmmm, but you're okay with me coming over to visit? Right?"

"Of course, just call ahead as I may be out and about,"

"Will do,"

Again a peaceful silence fell before Brittany decided to break it by saying "Um, Rachel, listen, I'll pick you up every day, okay, to go to school that is,"

"Really? You don't have to," Rachel said.

"But I want to, it can be our bonding time, starting with cookies,"

Rachel just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Glove box, home made by Mama, Vegan friendly, and so good," Brittany said as she turned another corner as Rachel gave her a small laugh and opened up the glove box to be greeted with papers and a small box, "Small box, open it,"

Rachel took the small box and opened it to find it was filled with some cookies.

"Ooo," was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

"Now you can take one and put it in your mouth," Brittany said.

"Ofay," Rachel said as she stuck the cookie in her mouth and left it there.

"Oh for goodness sake, bite, chew, swallow, enjoy, then repeat process with a new cookie," Brittany laughed as she playfully pushed Rachel's arm.

Rachel just ate the cookie with a smile.

When the two finally reached the school and got out, Rachel pulled her hoodie over her head to hide her face.

"I'll be with you, I promise," Brittany said as she shouldered her bag, locked the car, and looped her arm through Rachel's and the two made their way into the school.

* * *

The day itself wasn't so bad at all. Sure people stared at her which made her feel self concious as Rachel pulled her hoodie even further over her head. But no one tried to go near her at all.

Although she assumed that it had something to do with the tall blonde who was standing next to her.

Surprisingly Quinn and Santana didn't say anything either and Rachel was waiting for the moment when the two were planning to get slushies thrown her way because she now had Brittany with her.

"Rachel, Rachel," Brittany said trying to get the brunette's attention but couldn't as Rachel was still in thought, "RACHEL!"

"WAH! What?" Rachel jumped making Brittany laugh, "Don't laugh, that was mean,"

"That wasn't mean, that was funny, what were you thinking about?"

"I was wondering why I wasn't slushied or insulted yet, it's been a whole day, I've come to the conclusion that it's because you're standing next to me,"

"Ain't gonna lie to you, it's probably the reason,"

"Hmm, it's been nice to be left alone..."

"BERRY!" Quinn was heard shouting at Rachel.

"Or not," Rachel and Brittany groaned at the same time as Rachel turned to look at Quinn to see the blonde marching down to them.

"Yes, how can I help you Quinn?" Rachel asked as Quinn paused and looked from Rachel to Brittany and back to Rachel again.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked.

"Putting stuff away and getting ready for Glee, why?"

"And why are you with her?"

"She has a name, her name is Brittany, and since she's standing right here why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Don't be smart with me ugly,"

"Hey, I've had a crappy day and a half since this stupid accident, back off Quinn because right now I don't care about ignoring you or trying to cower away, okay,"

"Wow, someone had to get even uglier to get a back bone,"

"Back Off," Brittany growled as she stepped in and glared at Quinn, "Now,"

"Why are you with her?" Quinn asked.

"Because I want to be,"

Why?"

"Because I want to, so back off,"

"Fine," Quinn said as she stalked off to Glee.

"Wow, she left already," Rachel said amused, "I'm keeping you, yes I am,"

"You're talking to me like I'm a dog," Brittany laughed as Rachel closed her locker and linked her arm through Brittany's.

"And you're not? You're like this adorable puppy who's so cute," Rachel said in a teasing tone.

"Okay I'll let you have that one since our wonderful friendship is just starting, but I'm getting you back in the future, just you wait,"

"I look forward to it," Rachel said as the pair walked to Glee.

-page break-

As Rachel entered the Glee room everyone stopped to stare at her...again.

"Problem?" Brittany asked as most just looked away again.

"What happened to you?" Tina asked Rachel, "I, are you okay?"

"Why do you care if she's okay?" Mercedes asked.

"Because look at her, oh my god, Rachel, what happened?" Tina asked full of concern.

"Uh, I, a prank went wrong," Rachel said almost unsurely.

"No, what really happened?"

"A prank, we'll leave it at that,"

"But,"

"Tina, you've never worried about me before, please just leave it,"

Tina closed her mouth at that and nodded her head in a sad defeat as she reflected on what Rachel had said and sat down.

Mike patted her back as Tina sat down.

"She has a point though," he whispered to Tina.

"I know, I just, she looks in a bad way, I thought it was just rumours that were floating around when people said that Rachel got hit by something," Tina said.

"We can try to talk to her afterwards if you like,"

Tina just nodded her head as Mr Schuester walked in.

"Okay everyone, let's get start...Rachel?" Mr Schuester said.

"Hello Mr Schue," Rachel said uncomfortably as she sunk into her chair.

"I, so that really is you?"

"No, she isn't Rachel at all, no not at all, she was just pretending to be Rachel in your class today the real Rachel decided to move to Hollywood because the elves in your ears wouldn't listen to her and all that jazz," Brittany said sarcastically as Rachel nudged her side, "Sorry,"

"I, okay, um, well, Rachel, it is your turn to sing and I, well, if you're up for it," Mr Schuester stuttered as he tried to figure out what was going on and figured it best to ignore it.

"Prank gone wrong," Rachel said.

"Huh?"

"I could see the question going through your brain,"

"Oh, right, ahem, so, as you all know um, well, the week's theme is standing up to adversity, so, if you like to Rachel please start?"

"Yeah, sure," Rachel said as she got up and walked slowly to the front, "Um, I, the song I'd like to sing is 'Throne' by 'Bring Me The Horizon'"

As the music started and people were slightly surprised at the style and rhythm; Rachel tried to sing, unfortunately it looked like the curse also took away the one thing that made her who she was, her voice.

Rachel coughed as she tried to sing and her tone was completely off.

"God Hobbit, not only are you butt ugly now but you can't even sing anymore, you should just get out, we don't want you here and we obviously don't need you," Santana sneered, "You're right, you're nothing without your voice, but hey at least we have a good reason to get rid of you,"

Rachel put her hands on her face, what was she to do now? She was nothing without her voice.

She looked at Brittany who also looked shocked as she slowly got up only to be beaten by Quinn who grabbed Rachel by the arm.

"See ya ugly," Quinn sneered too as she shoved Rachel out and towards the door as almost everyone else in Glee just laughed at her.

"Please let me stay, I'll sway in the back, please don't make me go, this is all I have," she begged as she looked at Mr Schuester who looked away and rubbed the back of his head, unwilling to do anything.

"Sorry, but majority rules, and you're ugly, ugly doesn't go with beautiful, you're hideous," Quinn said as the other gleeks minus Brittany, Tina, and Mike agreed.

"Guys, let her stay," Brittany started, "Please,"

"Yes, please, just let her stay, this isn't right," Tina started only to be cut off by Santana.

"Asian 2 shut your trap, and B, she's a pain, I'm glad to be rid of her," Santana said as she put her hand on Brittany and wondered why the blonde pulled away.

"GET OUT BERRY," Mercedes yelled as Quinn turned to smirk at Rachel shoved her out the door and slammed it shut.

As everyone started chatting amongst themselves Tina collected her bag and rushed out of her seat. Her suspicions on the nature of Rachel's condition was spiked even more since the brunette couldn't sing anymore.

"I'm going to get Rachel, Brittany I know something happened and it's not a prank, did you, um?" Tina stuttered out to the tall blonde.

"Yeah, please get her and wait for me at my car, I think I'm about to blow a gasket," Brittany said.

Tina looked at Mike who indicated that he was going to stay to see what was going to happen next.

Somehow the conversation got back to being about Rachel as Brittany turned to look at everyone.

"Wow, I didn't know she could make herself anymore ugly than she already was, but here we go, bad fashion sense, ugly face, just the whole enchilada," Kurt laughed as Mercedes agreed with him.

"I just, I wonder what happened to make her like that," Artie said, "Must've been one hell of a prank,"

"I wanna shake the guys hand who did this, man," Puck smirked as Finn laughed at his statement, "Someone finally shut Berry up,"

Lauren didn't say anything as she seemed completely disinterested.

"You know, I still can't believe how ugly Yentl is now, she looks like the Beast of Lima," Santana laughed as Quinn laughed with her.

"Oh my god that's a good one, The Beast of Lima," Quinn laughed back as the other gleeks laughed too.

"I suppose she deserves it, I wonder who carved her face out,"

"Shut Up, it was an accident," Brittany said through gritted teeth.

Noticing the change in her friend Santana paused and looked at her.

"B?" Santana asked as Quinn looked at the taller blonde, "What are you talking about? Do you know who did that to Man Hands, because if so I totally want to thank them for getting that troll out of our…"

Brittany felt her fuse blow at that point as she yelled at everyone, "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE I WAS TRYING TO CURSE QUINN YOU IDIOT," Brittany yelled at as everyone stumbled back in their chairs a bit due to shock.

"B?" Quinn started as Santana gaped.

Santana looked at her in shock, no one was supposed to know about Brittany's powers or anyone else's; the consequences of such a confession would be dire and she felt worry run through her veins now that Brittany had blurted it out in anger.

"Oh don't start, you both knew I had powers as a witch, Tina does too which is why I'm surprised she hasn't cursed any of us yet," Brittany spat angrily as she chastised herself for letting hers and Tina's secret out. Though judging by Mike's reaction he already knew about Tina's powers.

"You, you were trying to get me to have an accident?" Quinn stuttered.

"NO, I was trying to curse you to be as hideous on the outside as you are on the inside, Santana would have followed you but I'm trying to figure out what to do because the whole idea of love would fail because I still love her so the curse would run pretty quickly for her, you on the other hand…..," Brittany confessed.

"B? You were going to curse me too?" Santana asked in shock.

"Of course I was, you two are terrible people and I was tired of seeing you hurt others, especially Rachel,"

"Yentl?"

"No, Rachel, that's her name use it,"

"Why'd you curse her then?"

"Weren't you listening? Because I was trying to curse Quinn, but the quick moment I wanted to, you came up and distracted me even though I told you to leave me alone for a bit and I got a fright and hit Rachel instead,"

"I'm glad you didn't hit Q,"

"Well I'm not,"

"You would have ruined my life?" Quinn asked in shock.

"It would have been for you to understand the life you made Rachel go through, for you to understand that looks aren't everything and that eventually they will fade," Brittany answered, "It wouldn't have ruined your life it would have helped you grow, but now, Rachel isn't going to fair well and it's because of me,"

"I'm sure someone will help her,"

"Not if things don't change, Rachel already has trust issues and is keeping most people away from her, no one's going to get in unless they really and truly try,"

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen her, observed her, and now that I'm her friend I know so,"

"How would someone have to break the curse?"

"Love,"

"Her parents?"

Brittany laughed sarcastically, "You two have no idea about her life, none of you have any idea at all, at the rate that she's going she will be doomed to remain a beast forever,"

"I'm sure someone will love her,"

"Rachel told me that no one even liked her before let alone love her, how will that change now that she is no longer pretty?"

"She was never pretty,"

"You keep telling yourself that, but Rachel was always far more prettier than you Quinn, you may fool a lot of people with your looks but you'll never fool me,"

"And me B?" Santana asked.

But Brittany just gave her a look that gave the Latina her answer and that broke her heart.

"You love no one more than yourself Santana, and that includes me," Brittany said.

"B, I do love you, I mean, I," Santana said but stopped as she closed her mouth and looked annoyed that she admitted that in front of the others.

"No you don't, you're afraid and you're a coward hiding behind popularity, this Santana, all this," Brittany said as she looked around in the classroom showing that she meant high school life, "One day this will all be gone, all of it, don't you want to make a difference? Be someone who's remembered for the good they did? Or is leaving a legacy of tyranny your liking?"

"B, I,"

"No, just no, I'm done S, I'm done, I'm done trying to love someone who will never be proud to show she loves me back, I'm done with being a part of something that is just wrong, I'm done with you, I'm done with Q, and I'm done with Mr Schue and Glee, you guys aren't family," Brittany said as she walked away.

As she left Mike picked up his bag as he got up too.

"Chang, where the hell are you going?" Santana sneered but the power wasn't quite there as everyone could see the Latina trying to hold herself together.

"I'm leaving, Brittany's right, we aren't family here and to be honest I'd rather go find someone who, one, deserves a family, and two, will give me the family I'm searching for, if she'll hear me out and let me try to be her friend, I'm out," Mike said as he followed Brittany out the door.

No one could say anything after that, not even Mr Schuester who felt shame and guilt running through his whole soul for not doing anything.

* * *

 **AN 2:** Okay, so yes, another bad thing for Rachel and I'm afraid there is one more not so good thing that is going to happen in the next chapter as the good starts to show up too. I was going to keep writing but realised this chapter would be far too long.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** Yeah, I was on a mini-roll, Lol. This will be the last angsty style chapter for a bit as I'm hoping to move Rachel on to better times, slowly. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 7:**

Tina caught up with Rachel who was almost at the door.

"Rachel, wait, please," Tina said as Rachel stopped and turned to look at the girl, "I'm so sorry"

"For what?" Rachel asked.

"For, I," Tina stuttered as she was unsure of what to say as she wiped a tear away from Rachel's face making the brunette move back a bit, "Sorry, I,"

"I'm going to go home now Tina, please leave me alone,"

"No, Brittany wants you to wait, so please don't go, I, I know what happened,"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm one too Rachel, I know what Brittany did,"

Rachel took a moment to think about Tina had said before the light went on, "Oh my god, really?" she asked.

"Yeah," Tina said, "I theoretically didn't tell you in words so I'm okay, I did the same with Mike but he took a lot longer to figure things out,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I had to mime for a bit and then he laughed really hard when he realised what I was trying to say, but he promised to keep my secret for now,"

"On another note, can you change me back?"

"I'm afraid I can't, curses such as this are not my strength and I also know that once one happens it has to carry itself through,"

"Oh," Rachel said dejectedly as she heard a door slam followed by the same door opening slowly and closing shut.

The two looked up to see Brittany storming angrily down the hallway towards them followed by Mike.

"What happened?" Rachel asked forgetting her problems for the moment.

"She yelled at everyone and it was amazing," Mike said as the two caught up to the pair.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked Brittany.

"Yeah, I should be asking you if you're okay, Rachel that wasn't fair of them and it wasn't right," Brittany said as she looked down at the brunette.

"It was probably a long time coming, now they just have a reason to really hate me and keep me away,"

"They can go screw themselves because I left the club,"

"You did?"

"There is no Glee without you, voice or no voice, and Rachel I'm so sorry, I didn't realise that the curse would affect your voice too,"

Rachel just gave her a look that was a bit indiscernible.

"You're welcome to hit me in the face if it'll make you feel better," Brittany offered as Rachel looked at her for a moment.

"I won't, as angry as I am that your curse took away my voice it wasn't like you meant it, I just, I need time to adjust to that,"

"I want to stay with you but if you need space to get angry at me then I'll give you space,"

"No, stay with me, it's okay,"

The four paused in their talking before Mike asked, "Brittany, how much trouble are you going to get into now?"

"More than I already was in," Brittany said, "I, Rachel, shall we go back to mine's? I have a gut feeling that something bad is about to happen and I just, I need my Mama,"

"Okay," Rachel said with a bit of worry.

"May we come too?" Tina asked as Rachel looked at them, "You're right Rachel, you're completely and totally right, I have never cared before and I could have tried, but I was afraid and I didn't know what to do, I'm not like you were and I just didn't want to stand out only to be ridiculed, I couldn't face up like you did or do,"

"It's not like I wasn't in the same boat Tina, you and I, we are the same, but I was loud trying to fit in and you were quiet,"

"I know, but we could've been better allies had I tried too, may we be friends? Start over?"

Rachel thought for a moment.

"We can start small and make our way up," Tina offered.

Rachel tilted her head to the side before nodding it, "Okay, sounds good,"

"Me too," Mike said, "May I try too?"

Rachel looked at him, "Sure,"

"Good, because I can bake a mean pie," he said.

"I don't eat meat,"

"A Vegan pie then, I'll learn, it'll be my peace offering,"

"Mike, you can't win girls over with food," Tina said as Brittany linked her arm with Rachel and lead the group to her car.

"I can try," Mike shrugged.

"So, do you guys need a ride too?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah, I don't own a car," Mike said.

"Neither," Tina said.

"Okay, I'll give you a ride to mines, HOWEVER, Rachel's in front, so shoo Tina," Brittany said as Tina stepped away from the front passenger door as Mike snorted a bit.

* * *

When the four got to Brittany's house they could see storm clouds whirling ahead.

"They're coming Brittany," Tina said in fear as she got out of the car.

"I know," Brittany sighed as she looked at the sky and then at Rachel, "I hope they'll be merciful, I hope I'll be able to stay,"

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked in fear as she stood next to Brittany and held the blonde's arm and stared up at the clouds.

"I broke the rules Rachel, I casted a curse I shouldn't have and wasn't ready to, and I revealed Tina's secret as well as my own to a lot of people, I must face punishment," Brittany said.

"But that doesn't make any sense, it doesn't," Rachel said as she looked at Brittany, "You told me,"

"Because I realised that I would eventually get punished anyway,"

"You told Santana and Quinn,"

"I actually never did tell them, I did magic by accident when I was small and they noticed, the Elders are okay with small mishaps like that because kids are kids and kids normally forget things as they get older, but Quinn and Santana, they never forgot but they did tell me that they promised to keep my secret safe so I actually never said a word about it until today,"

"I, but, I, you,"

"The Elders are mad at me Rachel and I know it, what I yelled today, what I confessed, they could hear it, so not only did I tell the gleeks my secret, I told Tina's too, and that is a big no no,"

"Why?"

"Endangering one's own life and exposing the magic world is bad enough when it's just you, we don't know who will try and use it for personal gain or even do something bad to the world of magic, but I exposed Tina too, Tina, I'm really sorry,"

"It's okay Brittany, as crappy as the gleeks are, I doubt they'd do anything," Tina started.

"I think they're afraid Tina's going to curse them, that's what Brittany implied," Mike added and then paused, "What's going to happen to you?"

"I'll probably be dragged into another dimension, what the punishment will be I can only guess," Brittany answered.

Rachel felt her bottom lip quiver, "But it doesn't make sense and it isn't fair,"

"Since when are the rules set out by adults ever fair and make sense?" Brittany stated as she walked towards the door of her house only to be greeted by her mother.

Susan Pierce opened the door with such ferocity and speed that it made Brittany jump a bit, "Brittany? What happened?" she asked in shock, "The Elders, they're coming,"

"I know Mama, it's all my fault," Brittany said.

"Come inside, everyone," Susan said as everyone shuffled in.

As she shut the door there was a loud bang and whirl of smoke and cloud as three Elders stood before the crew. The three were dressed in white robes and had the feel of scholars to them. The two men who were there had white hair and fair skin, while the woman who accompanied them had greying hair and ebony skin with piercing silver eyes. They all stood tall and emitted power from their stature alone as they looked at the group assembled in the hallway of the Pierce Household.

"Madam Pierce," the centre man said in a tone that stated he wasn't happy.

"Elder Vice," Susan said as she bowed respectfully, "Elder Sims and Elder Vines, welcome to my home,"

"I'm afraid that we're not here on a social matter, but I assume you already knew that" Elder Vines said as she turned to look at Susan, her eyes looking sad yet stern.

"We are here to take Brittany away," Elder Sims said with no sympathy in his voice at all.

"No," Rachel started.

"She broke the rules," Elder Sims said as he pointed at Brittany, "She must be taken away and punished, these are the rules and you three know this,"

"We do," Brittany said as Tina let out a small squeak and Susan just looked at them.

"Good, then we shall waste no time," Elder Vice said as he opened a portal.

"Wait, let me say goodbye to her," Susan begged.

"A woman who cannot even teach her daughter not be stupid about her powers doesn't deserve to say goodbye, you too will face punishment for this failing after your daughter," Elder Sims said unsympathetically and angrily as he snapped his fingers making Brittany scream as she was flipped to the ground and dragged by her feet towards the portal.

"NOOOOO!" Rachel screamed as she ran after the blonde and grabbed her with her good hand, "NO, NO, YOU CAN'T TAKE HER FROM ME,"

As the portal pulled at Brittany and Rachel pulled back, Elder Vines and Vice looked at the struggle with interest while Elder Sims just got angrier at the notion that Rachel was trying to stop what he found just.

"What is this?" Elder Vines said as she looked in shock as Rachel held Brittany back from the portal.

"Impossible," Elder Sims said as he walked towards Rachel only to be thrown back by some force and crash unceremoniously onto the floor.

"Interesting," was all Elder Vice said as he closed the portal and Brittany felt herself lurch forward into Rachel's lap, "I've never seen magic allow this before,"

"Probably because it's not fair," Rachel snapped not caring as Brittany, Tina, and Susan looked at her, "I'm already cursed, being more cursed than I am is not going to matter,"

"But it matters to me," Brittany said as Elder Sims got up, not that anyone else cared at that moment, and brushed himself up.

"Well you matter to me and I don't want you to go, magic screwed me over and I think it owes me this one, I want you to stay, you screwed up, big deal, it's not like they have never screwed up before,"

"I resent that," Elder Sims started as he glared at her.

"You probably did the worse of them all and are now acting all righteous because you think that you're holier than thou and are old but really you're nothing more than a sinful soul, believe me I know the type," Rachel spat, "You won't take Brittany away from me or her mother, I won't let you, and if I'm cursed and turned into a duck then I don't care,"

"Rachel, stop," Brittany said as she sat up.

"But,"

"I told you that I must be punished, it's how it works, words are a big deal in the magic world it's why when people find out about us we have to be careful, Tina never used her words, she mimed because she loves Mike and felt it was important that he knew, why'd you think she never told Artie in the end? This little clause of 'if we reveal ourselves by saying that we are magical then we must be punished by the Elders', it's a loophole that was never fixed, which I'm grateful for or we'd all be in a bind,"

The two were unaware that the three Elders were talking together and discussing what to do now.

"This isn't fair Brittany, I only just got you as a friend and now they want to take that away? It's not fair, why can't good things happen to me for once?" Rachel asked rhetorically.

"And they will, I believe that, I believe that one day someone will love you so much that they'll break this curse,"

Rachel just gave her a sad smile.

"If you two are done," Elder Sims started.

"Hush," Elder Vice said, "You've been apathetic enough, I lead this trio and it is my turn to talk, you will be silent,"

Elder Sims did as he was told as Elder Vines smirked at that as she turned her attention to Brittany and Rachel while Elder Vice spoke.

"Perhaps we were too rash about this," he said as he looked at Brittany and then Rachel, "I do I know that what needs to be done is punishment, and I did it the only way I knew how, the portal, but if magic is allowing this girl to stop you from going perhaps it means that there is another solution,"

The two looked at him.

"We have decided that Brittany will also be cursed, she too will become a beast," Elder Vines said softly.

"No, you can't make her like me, you can't," Rachel started as Elder Vines raised her hand to silence the girl.

"She will become a literal beast, a dog, you are cursed to remain this animal until the one you love known as Santana learns to care and love another or you will be stuck this way forever,"

"What are the rules? There are always rules," Brittany said too calmly for Susan's or Rachel's liking.

"You cannot come back to this house to help your mother as she faces her own trial, this is her punishment for failing to teach you to not go about cursing people and doing things without proper consultation of one who's had more experience than you,"

"I, Mama?"

But Susan Pierce couldn't say anything as grief and sadness was coursing through her soul and mind as she looked at her child.

Brittany understood that as she said, "Can I stay with Rachel? If you're okay with that that is Rachel,"

Rachel just nodded her head at that, unsure of what to say. The two Elders nodded their heads as Elder Sims seemed annoyed at this allowance but didn't say anything.

"Good," Brittany said, "Can I ever be human?"

"No," Elder Vice said as he looked at her, "You will become human once the one you love known as Santana learns to care and love another, so I hope she is up for it,"

"I don't know, but as long as there is a way I can still be there for Rachel then I don't care, I will take my punishment,"

"What about school?" Susan asked, "You can't, I, she's my child, she's all I have left, what if she's like this forever?"

"I'm sorry Madam Pierce but Brittany must face the consequences of her choice, as must you," Elder Vice said as he looked strongly at her.

Susan Pierce knew this so she nodded her head, as unfair as this felt she knew that there was nothing else she could really do. To revolt or oppose would go against what she grew up learning and would make matters worse so she just nodded her head as she too accepted her fate.

"Do you accept these parameters?" Elder Vice asked Brittany strongly.

The tall blonde looked at Rachel and her mother before walking to mother and giving her a hug, "How long will Mama be away?" she asked as Susan hugged her back strongly.

"For as long as you are a dog," Elder Vice answered, "There is no discussing that,"

"I will see you again Brittany," Susan said as she leant down and kissed the top of her daughter's head.

"I know Mama, I love you," Brittany said softly.

"I love you too,"

Brittany turned to look at the three Elders and said, "I accept,"

"Good, let's get this over with, this is a waste of time," Elder Sims growled as he stood nearer the other two.

As the three Elders formed a triangle around Brittany, Susan pulled Rachel towards her and held the girl close to her as they saw a light surround Brittany and ascend down her body causing her to scream as bones were heard crunching and moving. The scream turned into a pained howl and then a whimper as the three finally finished their spell.

Rachel gaped as she looked to see the golden Labrador now lying on the ground.

"Brittany?" she whispered as the dog opened it's eyes and stood up, wobbling a bit before it got its' footing and bounded up to her, "Oh Brittany,"

Brittany just barked happily as if nothing bothered her at all.

"Now, on to you "Madam" Pierce," Elder Sims started.

"No," Elder Vice said as he glared at the other man, "You've done enough, leave,"

"Fine, I'm going, this is a waste of time and magic anyway," Elder Sims said as he disappeared.

"Well he's an asshole," Rachel grumbled then covered her mouth when she remembered that the other two Elders were still there.

"Yes he can be," Elder Vice said.

"We should really consider someone else, he is far too uncaring and unsympathetic," Elder Vines said as she looked at him, "He isn't right,"

"Hmmm, we shall look into this later, magic business is magic business,"

Rachel looked as the two Elders turned to look at Susan but before they could say anything Mike broke the silence.

"That was scary," Mike said, finally finding his voice as Brittany was now lying against Rachel's arm having somehow managed to make the brunette fall to the floor.

"I'm sorry this is happening Mrs Pierce," Rachel said to Susan.

"It's Susan, and it's not like I wasn't expecting it, I just, I didn't think it'd be so soon," Susan said as she wiped her tears, "You'll look after her well, right?"

"Yes, I promise, and I'll come and look after your house,"

"You don't need to, the Elders will already have someone caring for this place," Susan said.

"But what about if Santana appears? You know she'll try and find Brittany eventually,"

"The Elders have their ways of keeping people away if necessary,"

"I, okay,"

"We should go now," Elder Vines said as she opened a portal and Susan walked towards it in fear before turning back to look at the three teens and her now dog daughter.

"I will see you again baby," she said as the portal grabbed her and pulled her away.

"We wish you all well," Elder Vice said as he and Elder Vines disappeared too.

* * *

 **AN 2:** Originally I was going to have Sam appear in this chapter but I felt that it would have been a bit too much and too long.  
Next chapter I will focus on Rachel and Brittany bonding as well having Mike and Tina there as well as we move away from the sad angsty parts. Until next time team.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** Yep, still on a mini-roll. Enjoy, I hope you find this chapter somewhat a bit lighter.

* * *

 **Chapter 8:**

Rachel, Tina, and Mike walked out of the Pierce home with Brittany in tow bounding behind them.

"Well, first things first, we need to get dog food, accessories, and toys," Rachel said as she patted Brittany's head.

"Yeah, Rachel, will you be okay?" Tina asked, "I can ask my Mom if I can stay over with you,"

"I'll be okay,"

Tina gave her a look for a moment.

"I will be," Rachel said strongly.

Tina still gave her a look.

"How about Tina just spend the night with you?" Mike suggested, "The two of you can bond a bit more and you can help Brittany get settled in a new place,"

Rachel looked at him before looking at Tina and seeing the hopeful glint in the girl's eyes.

"Okay, but first, dog stuff," she conceded.

-page break-

The trio walked to the store that wasn't too far away from Rachel's apartment as they went to buy the required items, Mike ended up having to stay outside with Brittany as the dog wasn't allowed into the store.

"Brittany, no," Mike said as he held the dog close around the chest and was struggling hard to keep the animal from going into the store with Rachel and getting her in trouble, "Holy crap you're a strong animal, Brittany, NO, SIT,"

But the Labrador didn't listen as it struggled to get away from Mike and move towards the door, seemingly dragging him along as well. He would've laughed at the situation but he was still struggling too much to stay seated and hold the dog down.

Finally the Labrador broke free as it barked happily at its' success against the boy.

"No, get back here," Mike yelped as he scrambled up and tried to follow Brittany.

"Hello Brittany," Rachel said as she patted the dog's head, "You get away from Mike did you?"

Brittany just barked in triumph at that.

"You need to give another name," Tina said, "Calling her Brittany is a bit...odd,"

"Is it?" Rachel asked.

"To me it is,"

"Hmmm, I have no idea as to what to call her,"

"How about Annoyance?" Mike suggested as Brittany growled at him making him jump.

"I don't think she liked that," Rachel said with a small laugh.

"Escape Artist,"

Again Brittany growled at him and snapped her jaws at him.

"That would be a no," Rachel said, "Let's just get back to my place, we can think of one later,"

-page break-

The trio walked to Rachel's apartment, Tina took in the area still feeling a bit shocked that Rachel's father made her live here alone.

"You really live here now?" she asked.

"Yes, my fathers made me sign forms and all that jazz, I thought it was going to be lonely, but now that I have Brittany with me I don't think it'll be as lonely as I thought it'd be," Rachel said.

"And you have the two of us now too, we'll visit when we can, promise," Mike said as Tina nodded her head at that in agreement and Brittany just barked happily and bounded ahead of them.

"Brittany back here, now," Rachel said as the dog ran back to her.

"She sure likes to bound ahead of things," Tina mumbled as Rachel opened the door to the apartment complex.

"Yeah, she does, let's go quickly, I don't want anyone to see that we have a dog,"

"Ah,"

Once in the apartment Brittany raced around looking and smelling various things.

"Brittany come here," Rachel said as the dog bounded up to her happily and licked her face, "You Missy, need a bath,"

Brittany paused and stared at Rachel like it was the end of the world and then raced away.

"Oh no you don't, get back here," Rachel said as she ran after the animal.

Mike decided he'd help too as Tina decided to sit back and watch the hilarity she knew was about to happen.

"You got her?" Rachel asked.

"Yep," Mike said as he lined himself up to the dog as Rachel pounced.

Brittany however got away as she bolted one way and managed to run between Mike's legs causing him to spin and trip over his own feet. Tina started to laugh at them.

"Hey, help us," Mike grumbled.

"No thanks, this is too funny," Tina laughed from the couch as Brittany looked back at them with an attempt at an innocent look that wasn't working on Rachel at the moment.

"You said you wanted to help Rachel, now help," Mike said as he glared at her.

"Yeah, see the problem you have here is that Brittany is still very human with the aspects of a dog, you're not going to get her that easily," Tina pointed out.

Mike grumbled again as he got up.

"Brittany, please, you need to have a bath first, I promise that you'll get to sleep on my bed," Rachel offered as the dog looked at her but moved towards the front door, "No, no, no, no walking, we have walked enough and today has been one hell of a day, so bath time,"

Eventually the trio got the dog into the bathroom to give her a bath. Brittany was not a happy dog as she whimpered and tried to struggle out of their grasps covering them in suds and water as she did.

Finally when she was clean and dried, she happily raced out of the bathroom leaving the other three completely drenched.

"This is going to be pain every time I have to give her a bath," Rachel grumbled.

"I agree, but now she's clean," Tina offered.

"Well I'm not," Mike said as he looked at the pair, "I call first showers,"

"No you don't, it's my house, so I'm going first, Tina's next because it's always ladies first," Rachel said.

"That's not fair," Mike pouted at them.

-page break-

It was soon decided that Mike and Tina would stay over as Rachel put their things into her washing machine. Mike was now sat in a towel that he held very tightly every time Brittany would come over to him.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Rachel asked.

"It's Brittany, I can see it in her doggie eyes that she wants to pull the towel away and embarrass me," Mike answered as he kept his eye on the dog.

"Oh don't be ridiculous,"

"I'm not, I'm being cautious,"

Tina just smirked.

"Hey, shush there woman who has oversized t-shirt," was all Mike said.

As the night wore on and the trio slowly halted their talk for the night and got ready for bed, Mike opted to sleep on the couch while Tina slept with Rachel and Brittany in the bed.

"You think of a name for her yet?" Tina asked.

"Yeah, Bounder," Rachel said.

"Unoriginal,"

"But I like it,"

"She's your dog so you know it's all good,"

"Yeah," Rachel said as Brittany cuddled closer to the brunette, sleeping in the gap between Rachel and Tina.

"You know what you're going to do with her while you're at school?"

"I would keep her here, but maybe I'll think of putting her in a kennel or get a dog sitter, I'll work it out in the morning,"

"Okay, goodnight Rachel,"

"Night Tina,"

"MIKE WANTS SOME LOVE TOO, GOODNIGHT!" Mike yelled over as the girls just laughed at him, "What? No love, ouch,"

* * *

It had been a week and a bit now since that fateful day.

Brittany had settled into Rachel's small apartment nicely, though at first there were some problems when the landlord finally saw the dog walking through the hallway; the brunette ended up having to make up a good excuse as to why she had a dog and stating that Brittany was her recover dog which the landlord believed and finally allowed her to have Brittany with her, provided that the dog didn't make a mess or too much noise.

That was a relief, now it was how to keep the dog safe while she was away at school and in the end Rachel just let Brittany follow her to school and used the same excuse when she was called to Principal Figgns office, and with the threat of being sued if she wasn't allowed her recover dog, Figgins let her be and informed the rest of the staff likewise.

Rachel found that most of the time people started to leave her alone, even Quinn and Santana; though she wasn't sure why, she was glad for it. Tina had told her that it was probably due to Brittany's angry outburst at Glee Club that the two were staying away from her for now.  
Rachel seemed skeptical of the notion because in the back of her mind she still felt that something was going to happen but Tina assured her that no matter what, the Asian girl would be there for her.  
Mike pointed out that perhaps people started to also leave her alone because Brittany would growl angrily at anyone she sensed would do the brunette harm and that included Mr Schuester who once walked down the hallway in his own world.  
Boy did he get a fright when Brittany growled at him and tried to bit him in the groin as Rachel had to pull the dog by her chest and collar away.

Classes were as they were, boring, Brittany had to endure boring lessons while the animal side of her wanted to go play so she ended up sleeping most of the time by Rachel's feet during Rachel's classes, and during lunch period as Tina lived up to her promise of being Rachel's friend and hung out with her during lunch time when she could, the trio would be at the front of the school and sitting under a tree to eat.

Mike also did his best to join in but he was part of the A/V Club that would occasionally meet up to discuss club activities during lunch.

Occasionally Rachel would be left completely on her own because Tina also had Art Club meetings that she had to attend and it was on those lonely days that if anyone cared to look, they would have found Rachel by the trash bins behind the school. It was the one place where no one would bother her, though she felt bad for Brittany as the poor dog would cover her nose.

 _"I'm sorry Brittany," Rachel had said, "But out here is safer, no slushies,"_

 _Brittany just whined as she leaned her head against Rachel's lap._

 _"I'm sorry,"_

Yes, with things being as uneventful as they were, Rachel was looking forward to the Saturday that was about to appear with it now being the end of the school week (though it felt like months already). She was glad, but the quiet she had been experiencing was about to get a cold awakening.

The brunette was just putting the last of her homework into her bag as she felt a sense of dread in the pits of her stomach as she could feel a crowd gather.

"Hey Loser," Karofsky yelled as he threw a slushy at Rachel as she turned to look at him, "And here, for your dog,"

Brittany yelped as the cold drink hit her fur making her stumble a bit in shock.

"HEY!" Rachel yelled angrily.

"Whatcha gonna do about it ugly? There is no Brittany to help you now," Karofsky laughed as Brittany growled angrily at him and looked ready to bite him.

But the jock just kicked the poor dog hard in the stomach causing her to yelp and people gasp.

"Britt...BOUNDER!" Rachel said in panic as she saw her friend stumble to the ground as she raced over to hold the dog in her arms, "That was a horrible thing to do,"

"What you gonna do about it?" Karofsky mocked again as Rachel stood up, looked at him and curled her fist, "You gonna punch me huh? Well hell, I'll give you a free shot, here you go,"

Rachel felt anger course through her as Karofsky showed her his chin and mocking her, "I just want you to leave me alone Karofsky, you and your stupid friends, I want everyone to LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rachel finally snapped and punched Karofsky hard in the face causing him to fall backwards and be knocked out.

"What the hell?!" Azimio stuttered as he looked from Rachel to Karofsky and back to Rachel, "That ain't natural, what the hell?!"

"Holy damn, she's strong," someone else said.

"Yeah, let's get outta here," another said as everyone scrambled away.

Rachel found herself alone and breathing hard as she swung her locker open to retrieve her slushy kit, ignoring the boy who was still on the ground and out cold.

"Oh my god, Rachel, Britt...Bounder, are you guys okay?" Tina asked as she just arrived on the scene, "What happened?"

"Karofsky slushied me and Bounder and then proceeded to kick her," Rachel said angrily, "I just got so angry that I knocked him out,"

"Damn, must be the one good thing about that cur...accident, you got a lot of strength,"

"Yeah,"

"And here I thought you didn't believe in hitting people,"

"He kicked my friend, he deserved it, let's hope his cave man brain will make him remember all this and leave me alone,"

"Hmm, c'mon, we need to get you both cleaned up," Tina said as she ushered Rachel towards the bathrooms.

Rachel just nodded her head as she picked up Brittany using both her arms as Tina took Rachel's slushy kit from her locker.

In the bathroom Tina helped Rachel get cleaned up after the two cleaned Brittany. The dog staying still this time instead of being a struggling nuisance during clean up time.

As Rachel was getting dressed, Mike burst through the door, "ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?!" he yelled in panic and concern.

Rachel screamed as she tried to cover herself up.

"Mike get the hell out, this is the girl's bathroom," Tina chastised as she pushed Mike out the door again.

"But," he started.

"OUT!"

"Oh, right, sorry, I,"

"OUT!"

"Going, going, going, I'll be waiting out..." he started as Tina slammed the door shut, "Side,"

"You peeking at things you shouldn't be Chang?" Santana asked in a tone Mike couldn't quite figure out.

"Uh, no, I just, I'm waiting for Rachel to be done in there,"

"The hell happened anyway? I heard that Rachel decked Karofsky so bad that he was out cold,"

"That's what I heard and that's what I'm waiting to ask,"

As Rachel exited the bathroom with Brittany and Tina in tow, she saw Santana and paused.

"Is it true Yentl?" Santana asked as she crossed her arms and Brittany growled at her, not that the Latina seemed to care.

"About what?" Rachel asked.

"I heard Karofsky slushied you and your dog so you punched him and knocked him out,"

"So what if I did?"

"So it's true,"

"Yeah, I just want you guys to leave me the hell alone and if going against my normal principals of physical violence is the only way to do it then I will, besides he kicked my friend,"

"Well he's getting treated in the nurses office, believe me he won't bother you again, nor will anyone else, I don't think, no promises when it comes to me and Q though,"

"Is there a reason you're here Santana?" Tina asked as she stood in front of Rachel in hopes of protecting her from any onslaught the Latina might have in store.

"Look at you with a backbone,"

"Answer the question, I have a lot to do today and I promised Rachel that I was going to hang out with her today after school before I have to head home to the 'rents,"

Santana looked at Rachel strongly and said, "Where is she?"

"Who?" Rachel asked.

"Don't play stupid, where's B?"

"Uh, well,"

"I went to her house but some old people are now there, something about a sabbatical her mother's taking but I call bullshit, where is she?"

"I can't tell you,"

"Tell me,"

"I can't," Rachel said as Brittany growled at the Latina making her look at the dog glaring back up at her.

"Whatever," Santana said as she walked away but not before saying, "I will find her eventually, you can't keep her from me,"

Rachel just looked down at Brittany as she patted the dog's head as the Labrador looked sadly at the retreating form of the cheerleader.

* * *

Saturday, glorious and wonderful Saturday. It was a good lazy afternoon as Rachel was in a more secluded part of the park. The area that she had wanted to be in had people who screamed at the sight of her so she moved to a more secluded spot. She couldn't bear hearing all the hushed talks, the stares, and pointed looks as parents tried to guard their kids from her, and the teens who mocked her looks.

Tina and Mike couldn't be with her that day as they had an event they couldn't get out of, strict Asian parents and all as Tina would joke with her.

Rachel was currently sat on the grassy area and playing frisbee fetch with Brittany as the dog happily ran after it and then ran back to her proudly every time she caught it in her mouth.

She was unaware of the blonde boy who was walking up to her.

"That's a really cool dog," the blonde haired boy said causing her to jump a bit as she turned to look at him, still sat on the floor.

"Oh, um, hello," Rachel said as she moved back and pulled her hood over her head.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, I'm Sam, I don't like green eggs and ham," Sam tried as Rachel glanced a look at him.

Brittany just barked happily as she bounded up to Sam, something was good about this person, she knew it.

Rachel just looked at the blonde boy as Brittany bounded back to Rachel and nudged her, wanting her to say hello.

"Hi, Hi, I'm Rachel, and this is Bounder," she finally said.

"Awesome, pleased to meet you, say, do you want to hang out? I'm new here and I've been trying to make friends but people seem to not like cheery, and I just, I saw you playing with your dog and I love dogs,"

"I, um, well, are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Have you looked at me?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You're not put off by my appearance?"

"Why would I be? You seem like a nice person and your dog is super happy,"

Rachel wasn't sure what to do.

"Sorry, I know I'm a bit weird, just some random walking up to you, but I promise I'm not going to do anything bad or hurt you, I'm genuinely looking for a friend if you'll give me a chance," he said as Brittany barked at that in a tone that showed Rachel she wanted her to be friends with the boy.

"Um, yeah, okay, I guess, would you like to play frisbee with me and Bounder?" Rachel asked as she held out the frisbee to Sam.

"Hell yes," the blonde boy said as he took the frisbee and threw it for the happy dog to go catch before sitting down next to the brunette, "So, what school are you going to?"

"I go to McKinley,"

"Really? Cool, I'm going there too, anything I should watch out for?"

"Are you a jock?"

"Nope, don't plan to be either, I just like working out,"

"Then watch out for slushies, they like to throw them at newbies,"

"Okay, noted," Sam said as he threw the frisbee again and Brittany raced after it, "You got any siblings? I have two, but they're with my parents right now at the playground and I got a bit bored and wandered away for a small walk before bumping into you,"

"No, only child,"

"Cool, what do your parents do?"

"One's in media and the other is in business,"

"Awesome, my Mom's a housewife and my Dad's a carpenter, it's cool,"

Rachel just nodded her head as Brittany ran up to her and gave her the frisbee for her to throw.

"You got a boyfriend?" Sam asked.

"No," Rachel answered, "With this look there's no way,"

"Meh, looks are skin deep, so no boyfriend?"

"No,"

"Girlfriend?"

"No,"

"Significant other?"

"I don't have a partner of any sort,"

"Ah, okay, you on your own today? Where are your family?"

Rachel didn't answer that.

"Sorry, too nosy?" Sam asked.

"A bit," Rachel answered as she heard someone call out to Sam.

"SAM? Time to go," a woman was heard calling out.

"Oh, gotta go, it was nice to meet you Rachel, can I have your number? It'd be cool to see you around school," Sam said as he got up.

"Yeah, um, sure, I guess, here you go," Rachel said as she gave him her number.

"I'll see you later," Sam said in an imitation Sean Connery voice.

As he walked away Brittany walked happily up to Rachel and looked at her.

"Thanks Brittany, I think you helped me make another friend," Rachel said as she stroked the dog's head.

Brittany just let out a pleased huff.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there we go, it's Sam. So, I may still have a bit more of this mini-roll going, but I have to be at work soon so I need to pause and head off. I hope you enjoyed the lighter side (with a deserved whopping of a stupid boy). Until next time team.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:** There was a mini roll going, but my brain got tired and I needed to sleep. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. But be warned, it's got a scene of bullying and the return of a certain jackass, and no, it's not the one from Glee Club. So slightly angsty but it's not really Rachel this time.

* * *

 **Chapter 9:**

Sunday went by with a breeze for Rachel as nothing much really happened. Although she did find it enjoyable as she went to the park again with Tina, Mike, Brittany, and of course her new friend Sam.

He was quite the nice guy and he got along well with everyone especially Mike as the two engaged in talks of comic books and video games before the four stood up to play frisbee together with Brittany, who had a lot of fun racing between all of them barking happily.

"Bri...Bounder, WHOA!" Mike yelped as she jumped in his direction to catch the frisbee, caught it in her mouth, but ended up slamming into the boy making him tumble to the ground with an oomph sound.

Tina was in hysterics laughing at him, Sam ran over to help him up, and Rachel went to see how Brittany was doing.

"Are you okay?" she asked Brittany.

"Yeah I'm good," Mike said, "Damn is she heavy,"

"I, uh, was talking to the dog," Rachel said sheepishly making Tina laugh even louder.

"Why is it that I'm always having crap happen to me?" Mike asked as he stood up and Brittany bounded over to him and lay next to him with a sort of sorry look on her face, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're not that sorry you silly dog,"

Brittany just let out a sound and looked at him.

"Fine, forgiven, jeez, manipulative dog," Mike grumbled as looked from Brittany to Rachel.

Sam just laughed before saying, "Well, looks like you're cast as the funny guy in this quad,"

"If I'm comical, what are you?"

"The nerd," Sam said proudly, "Tina's the Goth Know-it-all, and Rachel's the protagonist, I can feel it,"

"Everyone's the protagonist of their story,"

"Yeah, but in this group Rachel's the centre, ipso facto, she's the protagonist,"

Mike opened his mouth to say something and then deflated.

"He's right and you know it," Tina said as she walked over to where Mike was and sat next to Brittany and ran her fingers through her fur.

"Well I'm beat, you guys hungry? I'd kill for a good bagel right now," Rachel said looking at everyone.

"Yeah totally," Sam said, "Can we go to that Burgersaurus place?"

"Um I, we can," Rachel started, "No we'll go,"

"Whoa wait, I know that look, c'mon, why don't you want to go there?"

"I'm uh, I'm a Vegan so I don't actually eat meat or any other animal products,"

"Oh, okay then, we'll go somewhere else,"

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, I'm a meat eater, I can adjust to your diet, you can't adjust to mine, simple as that, I can go to Burgersaurus another time, it's all good,"

"I like him," Tina said, "We're keeping you,"

"Thank you, you're pretty cool yourself you know,"

"Oi, just so you know, comical guy is dating the Goth Know-it-all," Mike interjected.

"Noted," Sam smirked, "And how about you pretty girl?"

Brittany just looked at him weirdly as she ran up to Rachel and tried to hide behind the brunette's legs.

"You're not dating my dog," Rachel said.

"She's also kinda taken, sorta," Tina added.

"Oh damn," Sam joked, "How about you madam?"

"Me!? No, no, no, no," Rachel said, "No thank you, you're a nice guy but..."

"I'm not your type, you can say it,"

"I, how'd you know?"

"Because you give me the friend vibe and that's all cool, we're going to be awesome pals anyway,"

"I, okay then,"

Brittany just barked as she collected her leash and put it in Rachel's hand.

"Guess it's time to go," Rachel said as she clipped Brittany's leash and the crew walked off to find dinner.

* * *

The next day Rachel found herself back at school again.

She waited at the entrance for Tina, Mike, and Sam to show up.

Brittany was lying down next to her peacefully for the time being until someone's presence made her stand in alert.

"What is it B?" Rachel asked as she looked down at the dog to see the animal turned and glaring strongly at someone behind her.

Rachel turned to see Santana standing there.

"Can I help you?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know, can you?" Santana asked.

"Depends, what do you want?"

Santana paused for a moment before saying, "I want my girlfriend back, where is she?"

"I wouldn't know Santana, besides, I thought she wasn't your girlfriend,"

"I," Santana sighed, "Yeah I guess not, but I want her to be, so, do you know where she is?"

"I do, but I'm not allowed to tell you and if you make me tell you she'll know and she'll probably never talk to you again,"

Santana looked at her before looking at the dog, "I know we don't like each other..." she started.

"And whose fault is that?" Rachel asked sarcastically.

"But I'm not stupid," Santana finished, "I know the Elders did something to her and I know it's because she actually said the words she wasn't supposed to,"

Rachel didn't say anything.

"How do I bring her back?" Santana asked.

"Why should I help you?" Rachel asked.

"Because I want Brittany back,"

"Well, then it's something you'll have to figure out how to do on your own, I don't know how I can help you,"

Santana walked closer to Rachel and Brittany didn't like it one bit as she let out warning huffed barks making the Latina pause.

"I wasn't going to hit her if that's what you were thinking," Santana said to the dog, "Listen Berry, I need to know, how do I bring her back?"

"I'm sorry Santana but I can't help you on that one, it's something you have to figure out on your own," Rachel said as the Latina let out a uncharacteristic sad sigh and turned to walk away, "But let me give you a piece of advice,"

Santana paused and looked at the brunette.

"Relearn everything there is to know about Brittany and you'll find a way to bring her back," the brunette said as the Latina gave her a thoughtful half smile.

"Thanks Berry, I'll think on it," Santana said as she turned and walked away.

With that, Rachel kept waiting until Tina finally showed up.

"I just saw Santana walking away, are you okay?" Tina said as she walked up to the pair, "And where's Quinn?"

"Yeah, I'm good, Santana just wants to know how to get Brittany back so I told her to relearn everything about Brittany and hopefully she'll find a way to bring her back," Rachel answered, "As for Quinn, no idea and I currently do not care,"

"She hasn't been bugging you recently so I suppose that's good,"

"I also have a dog next to me," Rachel said as Brittany let out a small huff with a dog smile as she leaned against the brunette's leg, "So, where's Mike?"

"He's already here, he came super early to meet up with the A/V crew, where's Sam?"

"On his way apparently,"

"HELLO!" Sam said loudly making the girls jump and Brittany growl at him in shock, "Hey, sorry, I couldn't resist,"

Brittany kept glaring at him.

"Um, am I safe with her around?" Sam asked.

"You pissed her off so I reckon avoid her or your ass will get bit," Rachel answered.

"I'm sorry Bounder, really," Sam said but he knew the dog didn't believe him by the amount of glaring still directed his way.

Footsteps made the small crew stop talking as Brittany's attention turned from Sam and to another blonde who was making her way towards the school.

"Oh, there's Quinn," Rachel whispered.

"Oh hey, that's the Fabray girl, she goes to my church, she's like super distant but her father is awesome, he cracks jokes and everything," Sam said.

"Yeah I'm not surprised she's distant," Rachel mumbled as Quinn paused to look at them and then at Brittany, "Good morning Quinn,"

Quinn wasn't quite sure as to what she wanted to say so she just gave them a curt nod before making her way into the school.

"That was...uh," Tina started.

"Interesting?" Rachel offered.

"Yeah, interesting,"

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Normally she'd be making a snide remark at us about something but today she's just quiet," Rachel answered, "I'm just surprised,"

"Maybe Brittany's words got to her and made her think, Mike told me what Brittany said and holy damn it was awesome," Tina said.

"What did Brittany say by the way?"

"That Quinn could fool the world as much as she wanted but she couldn't fool Brittany at all, oh, and that you are far more prettier than she'll ever be even after the cur..accident,"

"You were in a car accident?" Sam asked.

"Uh, yeah, we'll go with that," Rachel said as she looked at him, "You don't believe me do you?"

"Nope, but I'm assuming that it was an accident of some sort and that you don't like to talk about it,"

"Something like that,"

"And I'll respect that,"

"Thank you Sam, so, shall we all head in then?"

"Sounds good to me,"

-page break-

The course of the day was more or less like any other boring school day for Rachel. She went to class, she learnt her lessons, she ate her lunch, today she had lunch with Sam so the two were sat outside under the tree in their usual spot. Tina and Mike unfortunately had club meetings to go to.

"Are you enjoying McKinley so far?" Rachel asked Sam as she ate her sandwich.

"Yeah, it's not too bad, I mean school is school, but on one's tried to do that slushy thing you're talking about," he replied.

"That's a good thing, oh no,"

"What?"

"Looks like you're about to be recruited,"

"For what?"

But before Rachel could say anything some of the Cheerios and the Footballers approached them. Brittany immediately got to her feet and snarled at them.

"Holy jeez, that dog," one of the jocks said as the crew stopped, "Hey, you, new guy,"

"Uh, yeah," Sam said as he looked at the crew.

"You should stop hanging around that, um, thing,"

"She's not a thing, she's my friend and her name is Rachel,"

"She's a loser,"

"To you maybe, but she ain't a loser to me,"

"Whatever, look, you should join our football team,"

"No thanks,"

"What?"

"Hey, I'd rather have a real friend than a bunch of fake ones, so bug off or the dog will bite your ass,"

The crew looked at Brittany who was growling up at them.

"Oh screw that I'm skipping the main plan and grabbing her," Karofsky was heard saying angrily as he stormed forward and knocked into a couple of people, "This is for embarrassing me,"

"Wait," one of the other jocks said but it was too late as Karofsky firstly reached out for Rachel and punched her in the face and threw her down to the ground. Brittany was barking angrily as she tried to approach him again but he shoved her aside with his foot. As Sam got up and scrambled to try and help Rachel up.

And as Brittany stumbled to the side but before Sam reached her to help her up, Rachel felt herself slam to the floor with a painful ooph sound as she felt herself get angry and stood up rapidly. She glared at him as she was about to storm over to him but by the time her thoughts were able to be acted upon, Karofsky reached out to capture Brittany and managed to wrap his arm around her neck in slight choke.

"Hey, NO!" Rachel screamed as the group pushed her back and Karofsky finished grabbing Brittany roughly.

The Labrador struggled and yelped as the footballer had lifted her up in an odd position and carried her away.

"GIVE ME BACK MY DOG," Rachel yelled as she raced after Karofsky only to be stopped by the other footballers allowing him to get away and out of sight.

"HEY, GIVE BOUNDER BACK," Sam yelled too as he was punched in the face by one of the jocks.

"You wanna be a loser, then we'll make sure you stay one," a footballer mocked him but trying to act tough because he thought that that's what Karofsky would want the team to do.

"Sam? You okay?" Rachel asked in panic.

"Just my nose, I'm okay, go save the dog," Sam said as he held his now bleeding nose.

"I'm going,"

"No you don't" the same footballer said, but Rachel had had enough as she lined up her fist and hit him square in the face and knocked him out.

"Sucks to be you," Rachel said as she glared at the others, "Where's he taking my dog?"

"Ain't gonna tell you bitch," another footballer said as the jocks all tried to punch her. But Rachel had enough as anger coursed through her veins and she ducked and weaved and punched as needed.

When almost all the boys had been knocked out very painfully, Rachel turned to look at the Cheerios and growled at them, "So, Who of YOU would like to DANCE WITH ME?"

"None, none of us, we're sorry," one of the cheerleaders said shaking as the other girls started to back away.

"You don't want to dance? Hmmm," Rachel said almost like she was possess, "If you don't want to dance then at least tell me WHERE DID THAT MORON TAKE MY DOG?"

"We don't know," the Cheerios said in shock and backed away.

"WHERE IS HE TAKING MY DOG? TELL ME NOW,"

"I don't know, he just said something about taking her away from you to get back at you for embarrassing him, he set this whole thing up, he wanted to get that new guy to turn on you and he wanted to trap your dog away from you all to get back at you for knocking him out,"

"He embarrassed himself, that was his own damn fault,"

"Hey, you don't need to answer to her," a fellow football player said, "You can't be that tough,"

But as he tried to swing a punch at the girl, Rachel ducked and punched in hard in his stomach before hitting his face and knocking him out.

"So, you two remaining jocks, want to have a go?" the brunette asked as the two remaining boys shook their heads, "Good, now tell me, WHERE IS HE TAKING MY DOG?"

-page break-

As Karofsky ran through the school trying to hide himself from teachers, poor Brittany was yelping in pain and fear as she tried to break free from Karofsky's grip. The boy had managed to hold her mouth shut which caused her a lot of discomfort.

"Stupid damn girl and her punch, I'll teach her, good thing I got the other guys to get in the way, I'll throw this stupid dog into the garbage and lock the lid," he muttered.

Brittany felt fear run through her as she tried to growl and bite him but couldn't as he still held her strongly.

When the two had reached the back of the school Brittany started yelping and struggling when she saw the bins and felt Karofsky lift her up to throw her.

Again the poor dog yelped and barked loudly as the footballer threw her into the largest bin and shut the lid leaving the poor animal locked inside.

The darkness and the smell made the dog panic as she tried to get out. Her whimpering and pained yelps echoed inside the bin. She couldn't even calm herself down when she heard noises just outside the bin.

"You, what are you doing here?" Karofsky was heard asking.

But all she heard was him getting punched hard as footsteps made their way to the bin to open it.

When the lid opened and the sun shone in, Brittany saw Santana looking back at her.

"Hey there bonita, I've got you," Santana said as she carefully reached into the bin.

Brittany, unsure of what to do backed away and let out a small warning bark.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm going to take you back to your friend, okay," Santana said as she reached into the bin and safely pulled the frightened dog out.

Poor Brittany was shivering in fear as Santana held her close, the dog was larger than she anticipated but she still held on to her and let out small noises and trying to calm her.

"Lopez, the hell," Karofsky said as he sat up.

"Coward, taking out your anger on a dog just 'cause you can't handle being beaten by her owner," Santana said angrily as she held Brittany in her arms carefully, "Your ass is going to get expelled,"

"No one's going to believe that tramp anyway, she's a ugly thing and no one wants to go near her or listen to her,"

"Oh but we do," Coach Sue said as she appeared behind them.

"You got no proof," Karofsky said as he started to tremble at the sight of not just Coach Sue but Coach Bieste glaring down at him.

"Those people involved in the most recent punch up confessed all the plans and gave you up faster than The Flash can run,"

"I, that means nothing,"

"I've also got everything on video due to my surveillance, you're going to go to Juvie for animal cruelty and bullying, I'll make sure of it, plus you're expelled from McKinely, Berry on the other hand will not get punished because all I see here is a boy trying to hurt a girl who's already down, tisk, tisk,"

"And I don't want boys like you on my team," Coach Bieste said as she looked strongly at Karofsky, "I heard about your punch up with Berry the other day too, at first I thought it wasn't true, but Azimio spilled everything when I grilled him and threatened his spot on the team, seems like what I heard is true then, that you wanted to orchestrate a plan to get that new boy on the team while harming Berry's recovery dog as well,"

"I," Karofsky started.

"Get Over Here," was all Coach Bieste said as she pulled him by his ear causing him to yell in agony and embarrassment, "We're going to call your father,"

"Take that dog over to Streisand, she's worried about her and is tearing up my school after she helped that Sam boy to the Sick Bay, Chang 2 is with her," Coach Sue instructed as Santana just nodded her head, "And good spotting Lopez on what that bozo was doing, I must say I'm impressed,"

"He was being a dick to a dog, I couldn't let that fly, and thanks Coach," Santana said as she carried Brittany through the school in attempts to locate Rachel and Tina.

As she rounded the corner to the hallway, she heard Rachel and Tina talking, "Tina we have to find her, god, how could I? I just," Rachel stammered in anger and frustration.

"We'll find her, okay, we know Karofsky went in this direction so we'll take a short cut,"

"But she's going to be so scared, I mean she's a dog, I just, when I find him I'm going to beat him up,"

"Rachel don't,"

"Brittany is my friend and she is now my dog, I just, I hate not knowing,"

Santana froze at that, so her assumption was right, the dog she was holding on to really was Brittany. In that moment she felt conflicted, should she give Brittany back? Or should she look after her herself? After all she knew Brittany better than anyone, dog or not, Brittany was Brittany.

Sensing her conflict Brittany looked up at her with a sad look and gave her a small quiet sound.

"Okay B, because it's you," she whispered to the dog.

She walked around the corner to greet the two.

"Berry, Cohen-Chang," Santana said as she came into full view.

"Santana?" Rachel started as Brittany barked in relief as she tried to jump out of the Latina's arms but couldn't as the Latina was holding her tightly, "Bounder, hey, are you okay?"

"She'll be a bit shaken up, Karofsky threw her into the bins and locked her in,"

"Oh my god, what an asshole," Tina said in shock, "How'd you get her out? I mean, how'd you beat him?"

"How'd you know I got her out?" Santana asked.

"Um, well, your arm has trash gunk on it and you were holding her, so, thank you Santana," Rachel said but the Latina didn't let go of the dog just yet, "Um, can I have my dog back?"

The conflict rose again as Santana held Brittany tightly and looked at her, tears uncharacteristically fell from her face, "I knew this was her," she said as she looked at Rachel.

"Santana, are you okay?" Rachel asked cautiously.

"No I'm not okay, this is not okay,"

"Uh,"

"Brittany is in my arms and she's a dog, why?"

"Um,"

"Because the stupid Elders have some stupid rules about stuff, in fact she would have never blurted it out if it wasn't for you,"

"Hey, in her defense, Brittany did it for her to stand up against you for being a horrible person," Tina spat back.

"I know that okay, I know, but my B is a dog and you won't tell me how to reverse it, this is all kinds of messed up and I, I don't know what to do," Santana as Brittany looked up at her and managed to struggle out of her arms but stayed looking at her as she had landed on the ground.

Santana knelt down next to the dog and carefully hugged her around the neck.

Brittany looked over at her and licked the side of her face before looking back at Rachel.

Santana pulled back and stroked the dog's head, "I'll find a way to reverse this B, I promise I'll try," she said softly as she got up, "You two didn't see my tears,"

"I won't tell," Rachel said.

"You'll keep looking after her properly right?"

"Of course,"

"Good,"

Santana turned to leave before pausing and looking back at Rachel and asked, "We're not friends at all but I was hoping, I, may I come and see B every now and then? Please?"

Tina and Rachel's mouths dropped, "She said the P word, that's pretty big," Tina whispered to Rachel.

Rachel nodded at that and then said, "Yeah, sure thing Santana, I'm sure Brittany would love to see you, wouldn't you B?"

Brittany just let out a short happy bark before bounding back to Rachel and staying close to her.

"Good, I'll see you sometime," Santana said.

"You need my number don't you?" Rachel asked.

"I already have it,"

"What?"

"You told everyone to save each others numbers during Regionals last year so I did, and so did Q,"

"Oh, and you guys never hassled me?"

Santana just shrugged without answering her as she walked away.

* * *

"So the jocks involved have been suspended, Karofsky is expelled, the Cheerios involved are also suspended, and wow, Santana actually hit Karofsky too, that's all the stuff that I heard once the final 'report' officially came out, a.k.a. The Newspaper Club and their stories," Tina said as she was stroking Brittany's fur as she was studying at Rachel's small dinner table. The two were having a sleep over together, just the girls today, Tina's mother was understanding of the situation as Rachel and Tina were cleaning Brittany in Tina's backyard before the three headed over to Sam's place that coincidently wasn't too far away from Mike's.

The crew talked a bit as Rachel felt bad for Sam but the guy was as chirpy as ever and the punch up didn't seem to phase him.

 _"It's just a flesh wound," Sam had said with a mock Scottish accent, "It shows that I'm a warrior,"_

Rachel had laughed at that as the four, (five including Brittany), hung out in Sam's backyard throwing a ball every now and then for Brittany to catch before the dog rested and fell asleep by Rachel's feet allowing the brunette to rub her belly with her foot.

After dinner that was provided by Sam's mother, Tina and Rachel bid the boys farewell as Mike opted to stay at Sam's place to do homework before going home.

"Yeah she did, and she helped Brittany out so that's good, and that was before she knew fully that Bounder is Brittany," Rachel said as she flipped a page of her book.

"Hmmm, maybe she's trying to think about how to change and she wants to start with this small step, I mean, Brittany is a gateway to you and you are the way to helping get Brittany back, she knows this,"

"But then wouldn't it be disingenuous?"

"No, the magic would know and if she wasn't being genuine about her actions towards you, Brittany won't come back,"

"Oh, I guess,"

"We'll keep an eye out for THIS STUPID MATHS PROBLEM!" Tina said distracted as she slammed her pencil onto the table in frustration.

Rachel chuckled as she went over to help her friend.

"I hate maths, why do I need this stupid subject?" she grumbled as Rachel just sat down next to her to help her out.

* * *

 **AN 2:** Right, so yes, Santana will slowly start featuring a bit more. Next chapter however we will be changing gears a bit as we will also switch the story to Quinn's point of view (for at least part of the chapter) as she too will eventually be making more of an appearance.

Until next time team.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** Hello everyone, tomorrow is a certain author's birthday so I won't be updating the tale tomorrow I'm afraid (or I may, it depends what said author gets up to).

Anyway, for this tale, RikkuKashi pointed out a flaw I missed; which was, "How big is Karofsky? And how small is Brittany? Since he could lift her up with such ease and she was struggling...  
Answer: Eeps, all I thought about here was Big Huge Football Jock fuelled by anger and determination for payback being able to somehow lift a teenage dog up himself and move away as quickly as he could; which I'm sure I've seen before in movies and tv shows. So my bad about that...and the typos, I swear I fixed those stupid typos before publishing the new chapter last time. Sigh.

So, I hope you all are still enjoying the story - even if some of it is out there - and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, it will be from Quinn's point of view this time before moving back to Rachel's in the next chapter.

 **Warning** there are some trigger words and scenes in this in the form of a potential kidnapping and murder.

* * *

 **Chapter 10:**

It had been around two weeks now since Rachel's accident, as Quinn had heard her and her new 'Band of Berry Men' call it; and it had been just about as long since Brittany's blow up in the Glee room and the tall's blonde disappearance.

In that time Quinn had found herself not only in deep thought over what Brittany had said to her, she also had time to figure out where the taller blonde had disappeared to and she had an odd suspicion that the dog that was following Rachel around, (yes she called Rachel, Rachel, in her head as opposed to everything else in real life), was most likely the cheerful Cheerio. It would explain why recently she had seen Santana hang out a bit more every now and then with the crew. Though it wasn't often.

Quinn sighed as she looked in the mirror. Sure she was beautiful on the outside and she was pleased about that, she had worked hard for her body and the only thing that had to be fixed was her nose, which had been done despite her father not being overly please about it but he let her do as she wished because it was her birthday wish.  
And she had to admit that Brittany was right, Rachel actually really was beautiful and oozed a certain sense of confidence that the blonde wished she had but couldn't because her entire high school career had been modelled not by her parents but by her sister Frannie.

She had to admit that she was starting to wonder why she even bothered wanting to be like her elder sister. Frannie was never kind to her, in fact, Frannie was always downright horrible even though Quinn had no recollection as to why. The older Fabray daughter was always hard on her, telling her that she was too fat and telling her that if she didn't rule McKinley with an iron fist and an iron will then she was nothing.

So instead of following her parents example of being good people, Quinn opted to be more like her sister and became cruel. And it wasn't until Brittany yelled at her about wanting to curse her that she found herself thinking about the why of her actions.

Why did she bother with the cruel act, especially with Rachel? Why did she not follow the harder but better track of being a good person?

Brittany was right, wouldn't it be more worth it to be remembered for the good done in High School as opposed as to being remembered as a Tyrant that no one wanted to remember or be around once High School was over?

As she shouldered her pack she ran down stairs to say goodbye to her father who had a day off from work.

"Bye Daddy," Quinn said as she pecked his cheek.

"Bye Darling," Russel said, "You be good at school now, I want to hear good reports coming in,"

"I will," Quinn lied and then felt terrible about it, every year she had said that she always felt horrible because while she got good grades and good reports from teachers going to her parents; she knew that her behaviour was less than stellar.

It was one of the tricks that Frannie had taught her about surviving high school, the trick of putting wool over her parents' eyes. See, the Fabray parents were always told about how wonderful their daughters were in school, how great they were at leading the Cheerios, and how great their grades were. No one ever seemed to tell them about how cruel either of their girls were, of course the teachers were absolutely useless in most respects if Quinn did say so herself so she always got away with her parents never finding out about her real behaviour to her peers.

How then? Do you ask, how did Quinn's parents never find out? After all surely someone would have talked to them about their daughters behaviour. Well, apart from the fact that parents generally don't want to believe that their kids could be downright asses; Quinn also had a trump card on various people who could have told that she held over their heads as a threat, that if they so much as spoke badly about her, they would get it. Thankfully people bought that bluff or she'd have been doomed.

And as she sighed again and turned to walk away she heard her father say, "Oh, don't forget, Frannie's picking you up from school today,"

"What? Why?" Quinn asked.

"Because she's in for a small University break,"

"How long will she be here for?"

"A week, your Nana is coming too,"

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief, her Nana was a wonderful woman and usually Frannie was on her best behaviour when she was around; though Quinn reckoned that it was because she wanted her Nana to believe she was a good person so that she could get her inheritance from the kind old woman once she passed away.

"Okay Daddy, I'll see you later, I don't want to be late, enjoy your day off," she said as she started to walk away.

"You enjoy your day too," Russel said with a smile as he waved goodbye to her.

-page break-

When Quinn arrived at school she saw Sam waiting at the school gates for Rachel.

"Hello Sam," she said as she walked up to him.

"Oh, hi Quinn, how are you?" he asked.

"I'm okay, my sister's coming so it'll be interesting,"

"Oh, have fun,"

"I doubt it,"

Sensing that something more was on her mind, Sam asked, "Is something on your mind?"

"Do you think I'm beautiful?" she asked.

"Depends,"

"On?"

"On which aspect of you you're asking for,"

"Explain,"

"Physically I think you're beautiful, in fact I agree with Rachel, you're the prettiest girl I've ever met,"

"Rachel thinks I'm the prettiest girl she's ever met?"

"Yeah, swear to god that that's what she said, but on the inside, I don't know Quinn, I don't want to hurt your feelings,"

"Just say it,"

"On the inside you're incredibly ugly, you act like everyone is nothing to you and that they're a waste of space, Rachel, Mike, and Tina told me about all the stuff you used to do and I just, that's not of God Quinn, you know that, how can you go to Church on Sunday and then be the complete opposite of Christ the other six days?"

"Welcome to the America of Today where loving your neighbour is optional as long as you appear good on the Sunday,"

Sam just looked at her.

"Thank you Sam, I have a bit to think about so I'll just go," Quinn said as she started to walk away and heard Rachel faintly walking up to Sam and asking him if he was okay and what she had spoken to him about.

-page break-

As Quinn roamed through the hallway of the school with Santana everyone could see her lost in thought.

"You know, if you keep doing that you'll eventually become a target," Santana said.

"Huh?" Quinn asked as she stopped and turned to look at Santana.

"You're day dreaming,"

"I wasn't, I was thinking,"

"About?"

"About what Britt said to us before she disappeared,"

"Oh,"

"It's bugging me a lot and I can't seem to focus,"

"Hey, as long as you can focus when we're at Cheerleading Competitions then Sue will be happy,"

"True," Quinn said as she nodded her head and then said, "What's it like hanging out with Berry?"

"I've only hung out with her twice since I rescued her dog, it's not so bad actually, Chang 1 and Chang 2 are quite funny, and that new guy, Sam, he's a nice guy, I wonder if Berry and him will hook up,"

"Who knows,"

"And the dog is hilarious, last time I hung out with them, she managed to steal Chang 1's backpack and hid it, man did he freak out at that, according to the Berry Men Crew the dog sure loves to tease Chang 1 the most,"

Quinn gave her a small laugh at that, "Must've been fun,"

Santana just shrugged but a hint of a small smile was there in the corner of her lips.

* * *

School was soon over and Quinn found herself unmotivated to move. Since Rachel, Mike, Tina, and Brittany had left Glee Club the place had become less cheerful and more annoying than anything. Mercedes thought she could sing anything, and while Quinn had to admit that the girl had a nice voice, she just couldn't do the songs that Rachel could. And Kurt, god did he drive her insane. Everything was always about his sexuality, the boy sure loved to throw it in people's faces all the time that he was gay. Don't get Quinn wrong, she felt it important that people be free to say what their sexuality was and she felt it important that people be with who they wished to be with; she just disliked it when it was the only topic talked about when she was around Kurt, and she also disliked it a lot when all she could see Kurt doing was using his sexuality as an excuse for his behaviour towards other people he disagreed with.

Puck and Finn were still best buds with each other and both boys were now trying to chase her but she just avoided them and brushed them off each time which frustrated them, and when they turned to Santana, Quinn had laughed as she watched the Latina slap them in the face before telling them to leave her alone.

As for Cheerleading, since Karofsky was expelled and some of her fellow team mates in the Cheerleading Squad involved in his sort of failed attempt at getting back at Rachel were suspended, practice was also boring and not overly exciting, hard yes, exciting, no.

And since quite a few members were missing, Coach Sue in a small act of kindness let them all just go home.

Quinn texted Frannie to come and pick her up since she was done and she waited.

Eventually a car pulled up and Quinn opened the door and got it.

"Hey Frannie," Quinn said as she put her safety belt on, "How are you?"

"Would be better if I didn't have to pick you up, why'd you not go to Cheerios practice?" Frannie answered gruffly.

"Cancelled as some of the girls were suspended for bad behaviour,"

"Pathetic, if you can't control your own team then what kind of captain are you?"

Quinn couldn't answer that.

"A shit one," Frannie answered for her.

Again Quinn didn't say anything.

"You doing something for Prom Queen this year?" Frannie asked as she kept driving and went down a road Quinn wasn't used to.

"Um, Frannie..." she started.

"I have to pick up some stuff, now stop avoiding the question, are you doing a Prom Queen campaign?"

"Maybe, I'm currently preoccupied so I forgot about starting,"

"You're so god damn useless, I started weeks before I knew I was even in the running, that's organisation,"

"I've had things on my mind," Quinn said as she folded her arms in an attempt to quell the hurt she was feeling, "Like Nana for example, I'm worried about her health, Daddy said that she was in hospital again and that next time it may mean she's never coming out of the hospital again,"

"Who cares? She's an old fart and when she goes she'll go and the money Russel's holding will become mine, ours,"

"That's not a nice thing to say at all, she's a good person, you shouldn't wish for her to go away so quickly,"

"Being good gets you nowhere in this life, I've told you that before, could you have had the popularity and power you've had had you taken Mom and Dad's nice road?"

"Uh, well,"

"Of course not, better to be strong and rude than stupid and kind,"

"It's not stupid to be kind," Quinn mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing,"

"That's what I thought fattie,"

"I'm not fat, stop being mean to me,"

"Puah, I'm getting it out now because when Nana's there I have to be nice to you,"

"You're just hoping for her inheritance and that's the only reason you're nice to me,"

"Bingo,"

After an awkward quiet moment, Quinn decided to try again and engage her sister in conversation, "Do you think that since Nana isn't doing well, she may convince Daddy to give us the inheritance earlier than expected?"

"God Quinn you're such a stupid kid, look, if Dad were to give our inheritance from Nana now it'd go to waste and we couldn't get good interest on it from the bank, especially because you're such an air head who would waste it on surgery you'd need for that deflated chest that you call boobs," Frannie sneered.

"I'm not an air head, I'm top of my class, why are you always so mean to me?" Quinn asked in tears.

"Because you're stupid and you need to get smart,"

"Smartness is all relative,"

"Whatever, just stay out of my way, you're an embarrassment to the family Caboosey," Frannie said as she kept driving, "You should just do us a favour and jump from a bridge,"

"That's not a nice thing to say,"

"So what? You're a useless waste of space,"

"Stop it,"

"No, you need to learn your place,"

"You're a terrible person Frannie and I wish Mom and Daddy could see the real you, you're a heartless bitch,"

Frannie stopped the car at that moment, "Get out," she growled.

"What?"

"I said get out, you're an ungrateful wrench, I gave you the tools to survive high school and you say crap like that?! Get out or I'll pull you out,"

Quinn slowly got out of the car and asked, "And how do you expect me to get home from Lima Heights? It'd take forever and the buses don't run often here,"

"Use your legs you fat ass,"

"I'm not fat,"

"Yeah you are, I'm surprised Nana even loves you so much, once she passes no one will love you like she does and not even her inheritance to you will make you any more attractive,"

"Stop being mean to me,"

Frannie just looked at her before saying, "How about no, you're so easy and fun to tease Quinn because you're such a sensitive cry baby,"

"Look, if you're going to be like this, why don't we stay out of each other's ways because I'm done talking to you, you're a horrible person and you're a terrible sister,"

"Fine by me, find your own way home fat ass,"

Quinn felt tears roll down her face as she watched her sister slam on the gas and drive away quickly. Deciding that she best walk home now Quinn began walking but it wasn't long until she felt that she was being followed.

"Hello pretty girl," a male's voice said to her making her spin in shock, "Well, well, well, you should come with us,"

"No thanks," Quinn said as she started to walk briskly away.

"Come back here,"

But Quinn just started to run as she heard the guy chasing her.

She ran as fast as she could and took a turn down the alley way only to find the most clichéd thing had happened to her, the path was blocked.

"Oh aren't you a pretty girl, yes you are, you're going to feel so good," the man said as he approached her, "Don't you think so Glen?"

"Yeah, yeah Strick, she's gonna feel good," the other man had said.

"I get her first though,"

"Just don't spoil her much,"

"You want her dead or alive? I mean we were told she had to be dead so you know,"

"Don't care,"

Quinn didn't know what to do, her mind had frozen her to the spot, she wanted to scream, climb, something, but she just froze.

As the two men approached her as voice was soon heard behind them, "I'd advise you to leave her alone you perverts,"

"What the?" was all Strick could say as a sound of wood cracking on a skull was heard and Glen was seen falling to the ground, "The hell?"

But nothing else was said as the person started punching Strick in the face, "Men like you should learn the value of being good" the voice said, "Your Mama would be so disappointed to find out she raised a son like you,"

The older man got angry as he swung at the hooded figure and landed a punch but the person recovered and hit him very hard in the groin before hitting him in the head. A dog could seen be heard growling in the background as the figure turned to look at Quinn and began to walk over to her.

Quinn scrambled a bit as she looked up and saw that the figure was now standing over her as she tried to move away.

"I'm not here to hurt you," a familiar voice said.

"Berry, oh my god," she cried out in familiarity.

"Cops are on their way to get these guys, I saw them chase you before as I was getting walking home from the shops, are you okay?"

"Ye…yeah, I am now, thank you for helping me,"

"No problem," Rachel said as she pulled her hood down, "You wanna come to my place? You can call your folks from there,"

"I, sure, after we talk to the cops,"

Rachel just nodded her head.

Unfortunately it seemed like the two guys had regained conciousness.

"I obviously didn't hit hard enough," Rachel muttered, "I advise you to stay down,"

But the two got up anyway. Rachel saw that they had a knife and worried for Brittany's life.

"Bounder, protect the girl," she said as Brittany shot her a look and Rachel nodded her head towards Quinn.

Brittany did as told as Rachel moved fast and ducked and weaved and hit the men so hard that they both crashed to the ground with a final thud.

"Wow, whatever B did to you made you have super strength," Quinn blurted out.

"It's pretty hand at times," Rachel said as the cops soon arrived to handle the situation and arrest the two men.

-page break-

Soon the three were in Rachel's apartment as Quinn took in the room around her.

"Here, some water," Rachel said as she went to the kitchen counter again after and turned on a machine, "The phone's over there if you'd like to call your parents to come get you,"

"Thank you," Quinn said as she took a sip of the water and looked at Rachel and asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Rachel said, "Coffee?"

"Uh, yeah, please," Quinn said as she moved the water glass away, "Do you think I'm stupid and ugly?"

"No, you're not stupid Quinn you just make stupid decisions sometimes, and you're not ugly, you're a very beautiful girl, one of the most prettiest I've ever seen but you're more than just a pretty face," Rachel said to her softly as she poured her some coffee for Quinn and gave it to her.

"You really think so?" Quinn asked quietly as she took a small sip of the coffee.

"I know so, underneath all that hositility and the ice queen routine I know that there is a very beautiful girl, maybe one day we will get to see her because I know you'd be even more beautiful than you already are,"

"If you say so,"

Rachel just nodded her head at her as Brittany walked up to Quinn and leaned her head on the blonde's lap.

"Hi Brittany," Quinn said as she stroked the dog's head.

"You know about her?" Rachel asked in surprise.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out, how can we reverse this?"

"It's up to Santana and that's all I'm going to say,"

"Santana, figures," Quinn sighed as she looked around at the plain walls and nearly empty space.

"So, you live here now?" she asked after that moment.

"Obviously," Rachel said as she went to the fridge to get the soy milk.

"What I mean is is that I'm just surprised, I thought that, you know, even with things happening to you you'd still want to decorate your home,"

"There's no point to, it's just me and Bounder here," Rachel said as she poured the milk for the blonde and went to put it away.

"But why'd you move here?"

"Because I had no choice but to,"

"What do you mean?"

"Ugly doesn't go with beautiful, after this curse, well, my parents decided it was best I live alone, so they stuck me here, a place that is deemed so dangerous and so ugly that I'd blend in with no problem, a place where no one will see me,"

Quinn just gapped.

"Use that info if you want," Rachel said as she looked at the blonde again.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"Don't play dumb Quinn, we both know that when you go back to being mean to me you will probably tell the others about this, so I'm just telling you now for my own sake that you're free to tell everyone how not even my parents love me now because I'm so damn ugly,"

"I uh,"

"It will happen and we know it Quinn, it's not like I'm not used to it,"

But before Quinn could say anything Brittany just barked and ran over to Rachel's side and nuzzled into her.

"Brittany doesn't think you're ugly," Quinn said as the dog barked in agreement, "See,"

"She's biased," Rachel said as she looked at Quinn with a sullen look on her face.

Quinn just gave her a sad smile before saying, "And I don't think you are either, not even with all this,"

Rachel just paused and looked at her, unsure of what to say.

"I mean it," Quinn said as Rachel kept staring at her like she was nuts for thinking so.

"And thank you, for saving me that is, I wouldn't be here without you," Quinn finished as she looked at Rachel full of gratitude.

"Uh, you're welcome," was all Rachel said back with a small smile threatening to reveal itself on the side of her lips.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there you have it. Until next time team. We'll be going back to Rachel's point of view again as I'm sure you'd all prefer that, but I felt that this was a time to get a bit of a back story to Quinn before I attempt to advance her and Santana's relationship with Rachel.  
And no, it's not going to happen quickly.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:** Here we are team. Another light chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 11:**

Rachel was feeling nervous, very, very nervous.

Why? Well, it was all Quinn's fault...sort of...okay not really, but Rachel needed someone she could pin this on.

She was currently standing outside the Fabray Household, hoodie pulled completely over her face as she noticed a couple of people who were walking through the neighbour were staring at her every so often.

Brittany was sat next to her looking up at her friend in pity as she waited.

"Maybe we should just go Brittany, we don't need to be here," Rachel said as she turned only to have Brittany stand up and pad her way to the front of the brunette to stop her from walking, "I can't, it's just, I can't,"

Brittany wasn't having any of it as she grabbed the sleeve of Rachel's hoodie and pulled her to the door before she sat again, her teeth having a death grip on the brunette's hoodie.

Rachel sighed as she stared at the door again.

See, after Judy had come to pick up Quinn from Rachel's apartment, the older blonde found out what had happened and was livid at the actions of her eldest daughter.

 _"I'm so angry at her right now," Judy said._

 _"We had an argument, it's not like something like this hasn't happened before," Quinn said._

 _"It's happened before?" Judy said in shock as her head snapped around to look at Quinn making the younger girl move back a bit but nodding her head._

 _Judy was at a loss for words._

 _"Maybe we should continue this at home," Quinn suggested, "We've taken enough of Rachel's time,"_

 _"Oh right, yes," Judy said, "Thank you again for helping Quinn,"_

 _"It's no..." Rachel started but was cut off by Quinn._

 _"She didn't just help me, she saved me Mom, she beat those guys down, they were going to rape and kill me, that's what they implied," Quinn shuddered as Judy gasped and pulled her daughter into a hug._

 _"Oh my god, the cops have them, right?"" Judy asked._

 _"Yes," Rachel said._

 _"Oh thank god," Judy said as she looked at Rachel, "Thank you so much, I, my baby wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you,"_

 _"It's no problem,"_

 _"We have to have you over at our place, come for dinner tomorrow," Judy requested._

 _"I don't know, I don't have anyone to watch Bounder,"_

 _"Bring him,"_

 _"Her,"_

 _"Her with you,"_

 _"Um, I,"_

 _Brittany bounded over to Rachel and barked and looked at her, giving her a signal that she should go for it._

 _"I," Rachel started, "Um, okay, if it isn't an inconvenience that is,"_

 _"Oh it's not," Judy smiled, "You saved our daughter and we need to thank you,"_

 _Rachel just gave her a forced smile._

 _"Oh, Mom, we have to make Vegan dishes," Quinn said._

 _"Really?" Judy said back._

 _"Yeah, Rachel's a Vegan,"_

 _"Not a problem, I'll make something Vegan, Rachel, do you know where we live?" Judy asked._

 _"Yes," Rachel said as Quinn gave her a look asking her how, "It was for a Glee Meet Up,"_

 _Quinn's eyebrows frowned until she remembered that it was really a Glee Party that Rachel wasn't invited to, but Quinn had told the rest of the New Directions where she had lived and Rachel had obviously overheard._

 _"Oh, that Glee Party thing," Judy said, "I don't remember seeing you there,"_

 _Quinn was about to tell the truth that the brunette hadn't actually been invited but Rachel beat her to it._

 _"Well, I looked differently back then and I didn't go in the end," Rachel said, "I was ill,"_

 _Quinn looked at her and Rachel chose to ignore it._

 _"Oh I see, well, please come for dinner with us, Russel would love to meet the girl who saved our daughter's life, so please join us," Judy requested again._

 _"Okay, thank you for the invitation,"_

So here Rachel was, unsure if she should ring the door bell or not with Brittany just waiting for her to do so.

"You know we aren't going to bite you," Quinn said as she walked up behind the brunette and giving her a shock.

"WAH!" Rachel squealed as Brittany barked in shock more at Rachel squealing than Quinn walking up behind them.

"Sorry," Quinn chuckled, "C'mon in, Mom's been cooking so she's resting at the moment, Dad's been cleaning, and I, well, I stink,"

"Oh, okay," Rachel gulped as she entered the house with Quinn, Brittany just behind them.

"Daddy," Quinn said as she ushered Rachel to the living room, "This is Rachel,"

"Ah," Russel said as he got up from his lounge chair to shake Rachel's hand.

"Hi, I'm Rachel," Rachel said as she held out her hand for Russel to shake, "I'm sorry I'm not much to look at,"

"I didn't even think about it," Russel said, "You're the one who saved our daughter?!"

"Yes,"

"Wonderful, it's a pleasure to meet you, thank you for saving her,"

"It wasn't a problem,"

"But it is appreciated," Russel smiled, "So, Rachel, do you have a last name?"

"Berry," Rachel answered.

"Oh, you're Hiram and LeRoy's kid,"

"Yes,"

"I don't think I've ever really heard them talk about you while I was at the station,"

"They don't like me very much, I disappoint them, so they just find it better to ignore my entire existence,"

Russel just looked at her.

"Sorry, I tend to be blunt, but that's just how I feel about the situation," Rachel said.

"Hmmm, I thought the two of them were on holiday in the Bahamas?"

"Oh, is that where they are now?"

"You didn't know?"

"Nope, I don't think I've really seen them in a while,"

Russel looked at her strongly before asking, "Do you live alone?"

"Yes, I have my own apartment on the other side of town,"

"Which side?"

"Lima Heights,"

"Is there an Adjacent added to that?"

"Um, no,"

"Your parents stuck you on your own in an apartment on the other side of town where you could be killed because they don't like you?"

"Um, yeah, when I was in the accident and turned into this, they wanted to do plastic surgery but the doctor said that I would die on the table, so I refused to do it, the doctor did too, and they were mad at me because I didn't want to get fixed, so they left me on my own, I mean they still pay me money and all that so I can live because they aren't heartless,"

"Or they don't want to appear that heartless," Russel frowned, "Excuse me please,"

Rachel looked at Quinn who shrugged her shoulders to show she wasn't sure what was going on as Russel left the room.

"So, kitchen's this way," Quinn started, "I figured maybe you and I could bake something together,"

"Really?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I heard that your cookies are amazing so I really, really, wanna try them, but I don't have your baking skills,"

"Um, sure, I guess,"

"What would you like to bake?"

"Chocolate chip cookies would be great,"

"I don't have Vegan chocolate,"

"I'm not a full Vegan any more, I can't quite afford it as the payments aren't as big as they used to be, so I'm just a Vegetarian, I wanted to tell you guys that but the words got stuck in my mouth,"

"It's okay, Mom's been having fun looking up Vegan recipes, but she made some meat for Daddy because he really can't do without his meat, so he says,"

Rachel let out a small laugh at that.

"Eggs okay then? We have free range," Quinn offered.

"Yes," Rachel answered.

"Milk?"

"Yes,"

"Flower,"

"When you say flour, do you mean flower or flour?"

Quinn grinned as she pointed at the vase.

"Well, minus the dirt," Rachel answered as Quinn laughed.

"Let's get baking," the Blonde said.

As the two baked they talked about school, Quinn told Rachel about how Puck got his comeuppance for making her slip in the choir room almost a year ago by slipping himself and crashing into the drum sets and knocking Finn over. Rachel had laughed at that. Quinn then told her about the time Mercedes tried to sing 'Defying Gravity' in Rachel's usual key but then croaked and lost her voice for the rest of the day, and of course there was the time when Kurt thought he could dance right but split his pants. She even told of the time that she (Quinn) herself had tried to act all cool while in a dance number but had slipped during her turn, crashed into Santana, and the pair had ended up a beet red embarrassed mess on the floor.  
Rachel was roaring with laughter by the end of the silly stories.

"We deserved that," Quinn said as she paused and looked at the brunette.

"Oh?" Rachel stated.

"We did, we didn't know the good thing we had until it was gone," Quinn said looking at the brunette, "I know that no matter what I do, sorry isn't going to be enough,"

Rachel just looked at her.

"But I am sorry," Quinn said, "I'm sorry that this happened to you, I'm sorry that I'm an asshole, and I'm sorry that Brittany is stuck like she is, neither of you deserve this punishment for my actions,"

"Or Santana's," Rachel added, "It wasn't just you,"

"Wasn't it?" Quinn asked, "Everything Santana has done was also because of me,"

"Santana is her own person, and like you she knew that what she was doing was wrong but she did it anyway,"

"I guess,"

"Quinn, the things you've done have happened and there's nothing you can do about it, but you can do something about what you're going to do, it's just up to you, but I don't want you to be different for my sake I want you to be different for your sake because it's the right thing to do,"

"Do you have faith that I can change?"

"To be blunt, yes,"

Quinn just nodded her head in surprise at that.

-page break-

At about dinner time, Rachel found herself being shown to the dinning room as conversation was light at first before it became a bit heavier.

"So, where's your sister?" Rachel asked.

"She's at her friends place today," Quinn said, "She's mad at Mom and Daddy for growling at her for being horrible and leaving me behind in a dangerous place so she just left,"

"Oh, so, what did happen anyway?"

"Fran was saying horrible things to me again and we got into an argument and things were said," Quinn said as she looked down at her food.

"Again? What is wrong with that girl?" Judy asked rhetorically as she placed her head in one hand, "I don't know what to do, I've talked to her about her behaviour, I told her to be kind and fair, I don't know what to do,"

"Neither, I've tried talking to the girl, I've tried freezing her out to get a taste of her own cruel medicine, she's not changing and I don't know why," Russel said, "Ever since mother was ill she just changed even more drastically, I would say maybe it's because of college but that's just a pathetic excuse that I know isn't true, I don't think,"

Rachel just looked between the family before saying, "People are who they are and sometimes it doesn't matter how lovely the parents are some people just end up being down right horrible because they don't have their priorities straight," Rachel said as the family looked at her and Brittany let out a nervous whine, "Sorry, just my opinion,"

"And sometimes some people have terrible parents and they turn out to be very good people," Russel said, "Like you for example, sorry that I feel that way about your fathers but that is how I feel, no parent should abandon their child, especially one as caring as you,"

"I'm flattered you think that,"

"But I can tell that it's true, I've never heard Quinn ever say anything bad about you when she comes home, she only talks about how good you are,"

"Really?"

Quinn just shrugged as Russel said, "Of course, but ever since that useless teacher let you go from the club I hear things have not been the same, it's a pity, I always enjoyed listening to you sing,"

"I can't sing anymore, my voice was damaged due to the accident,"

"Oh that's a pity, but you should have still been able to stay,"

Rachel just shrugged.

Judy smiled a bit at them all before saying, "So, before we get into a deeper conversation, I say we have dessert, I can smell some yummy cookies, we can have that with ice cream, who wants some?"

"ME!" Quinn, Rachel, and Russel all yelled at the same time.

"Russel you are an adult…." Judy started playfully.

"But I'm a kid at heart so ice cream, ice cream, ice cream, oh and I'm completely an adult if my boss at the media company asks,"

"I married a child," Judy muttered playfully as she went to the kitchen as Russel laughed at her and then turned to look at Rachel.

"So, Rachel," he started as Rachel looked at him.

"Yes sir," Rachel said as she looked back at him.

"Sir, that's a new one, you hear that Quinnie, she called me sir,"

"Don't expect me to that too though Old Man," Quinn said as she stuck her tongue out at her father.

"Mean child," Russel said, "Anyway, so, living arrangements, Rachel, Judy and I were talking about this just before and we feel that you should come and live with us,"

"I, I can't," Rachel answered.

"Any particular reason as to why?"

"My Dads, they don't want me to associate with the world too much and I think they'd do something if I moved away from where they stuck me,"

"Or are you more afraid of what the neighbours will think if you move in?"

"I, yes,"

"Look the neighbours can go to hell for all I care, you're still a kid Rachel, you need to have a home to live in, a family to look after you, we can do that, we may have to talk to Francine now and then about her behaviour because we know she's stand offish, but still,"

"I think this time I'll graciously decline, but thank you for thinking about me, but I like my place it's small, it's simple,"

Russel thought for a moment, "I suppose I can't force you to come live with us as you're an emancipated minor, so how about this, every Saturday and Sunday you come here, stay the night even, have dinner with us, and then on Sunday night we'll drop you off home, sound good?"

"I hang out with Tina, Mike, and Sam, on Saturday, it's kinda our thing to do,"

"How about just Sunday dinner with us then?"

"Um…." Rachel said as she looked at Quinn who nodded her head at her, "Sure, it sounds great,"

"Excellent, now, ice cream time," Russel said as Judy had reentered the room with the desserts.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there you have it. Russel is the instigator to get this thing Faberry thing going and yes, the Fabray parents will eventually find out what Quinn is actually like, and yes, the mean thing that Quinn may or may not do is still coming up as well. So bear that in mind.

Until next time team.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** Ta-da, here we go. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 12:**

Rachel was fast asleep in her bed when she felt something wet touch her face.

She grumbled at that as she waved an arm somewhere but reached nothing as she turned around and tried to sleep. Suddenly she felt something heavy jump onto her bed and lick her face, trying to wake her up.

"Brittany, go away, sleep," Rachel grumbled as the dog just looked at her and jumped off the bed before pulling the blankets away from her, "BRITTANY!"

Brittany just bounded away and barked happily as she ran out the bedroom door and then back in again barking loudly.

"Brittany be quiet," Rachel said as she sat up, hair slightly messy as she opened her eyes tiredly and looked at the dog that was in the ready to play position, "No Brittany, no, bad dog,"

Brittany cowered a bit and whimpered as she slinked away.

Rachel sighed, "Brittany come back here, I'm sorry,"

Brittany just barked again as she bounded over and jumped onto the bed and landed against Rachel heavily.

"Holy god, heavy dog," Rachel grumbled, "I'm up now, what'd ya want?"

Brittany didn't answer as she just licked Rachel's face a bit before knocking could be heard on her door.

Rachel just groaned as she flopped back onto the bed but Brittany wasn't going to let her stay there as she grabbed the hem of the brunette's top and started pulling her off the bed until she ended up as a heap on the floor.

"God Brittany," Rachel growled as the dog bounded away happily.

The door knocks became louder.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," Rachel said as she slowly stood up and combed her hair quickly and got dressed.

Brittany was already at the door letting out small woofs as she waiting impatiently for Rachel to open the door.

Rachel finally got the front door and looked through the eye piece and frowned, "Hmm, wonder what she's doing here," she said to herself as she opened the door, "Hello Santana, how can I help you?"

"Hey Yentl," Santana said, "Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure," Rachel said as she opened the door large enough for Santana to come in, "What's up?"

"I'm here to pick you up for school, Chang 1 and Chang 2 know not to wait for you and Trouty Mouth is already at school,"

"How'd you know that?"

"I texted them,"

"Uh..."

"I got their numbers my way, okay,"

"I see,"

Not really paying attention to the slightly tension, Brittany waltzed over to Santana and nudged into her leg.

"Hey B," Santana said as she reached out and patted the dog's head.

"So, how can I help you?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not going to start this relationship with a lie, so here it goes," Santana said, "I want to bring B back and I know that I can only do it if I'm around you, so if it's okay with you, can I come around now and then starting by taking you to school so that I can be around B?"

"Um, well,"

"Look, I know that I'm a huge pain in the ass, I'm a bitch, and I'm a horrible person, but these past two weeks without B got me thinking about stuff and I just, I miss her being around and I want her back, and even if it takes me forever to figure out what to do to bring her back I will do whatever I can, but she's your dog and I felt that if I wanted to do something with her I'd have to ask you first,"

"I uh, well," Rachel started, "I just don't trust you Santana,"

"I know you don't, and I'm not asking you to,"

"How do I know that you won't try and take Brittany away from me?"

"You don't, but you don't have to worry about that because I wouldn't anyway, B would bite my ass,"

Brittany let out a huff in agreement that she would in fact bite Santana.

"See," Santana said, "B is her own person...dog, and she'll do what she wants and I'll let her,"

Rachel looked at Brittany who had turned her head to look at the brunette back with slightly unsure eyes.

"I don't trust you Santana," Rachel said as she saw the Latina deflate a bit, "But I won't keep you away from Brittany either, so how about this, if you want to spend time with her then give me a day and a time, not Saturday because that's my day with Tina, Mike, and Sam, and I can't do Sunday evening as Mr Fabray said I had to go over for dinner,"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr F. actually invited you for dinner? And Q's okay with this?" Santana asked in shock.

"Yeah,"

"Wo...wow, how?"

"I helped Quinn out and they were appreciative of this,"

"No, no, no, no, no, this must've been larger than that, I can see it, what happened? Q okay?"

"Yeah, she's okay now, some guys were trying to assault her in an alleyway and Brittany and I intervened,"

"Man, intense,"

"There's more to it but you can ask her, it's her story,"

"I just might, damn, Yentl,"

Brittany growled at that.

"What B?" Santana asked as the dog kept growling at her.

"Brittany, stop, I don't think Santana will ever quit with the nicknames, might as well get used to it,"

Brittany just huffed.

"You know it's true B, everyone needs a nickname, I might as well give Berry a permanent one,"

"Yentl's not too bad," Rachel admitted.

"Good, so uh days," Santana said as she thought it over, "I have Cheerios until four on a Friday but then I do nothing, how about then?"

"Where shall I meet you?"

"It'll take me a half hour to get here from school if I use the bus, so can I meet you at a park or something?"

"Hmmm,"

"What?"

"I don't like going out so much unless it's with Sam, Tina, and Mike, people stare at me weirdly and children cry when they see me, I'd rather avoid that,"

"What's wrong if I'm there too?"

Rachel just gave her a look.

"Fine, I can just meet you here and I don't know, hang out," Santana offered.

"And when will you head off?" Rachel asked as she folded her arms and looked at the Latina.

"You tell me, it's your place,"

"First month is one hour each day you're over, okay?"

"That's it?"

"That's all I'm offering,"

Santana sighed in resignation and then said, "Okay, I'll take what I can get,"

"Good, now, are we going to school?"

"Yeah, get ready and we'll go,"

Rachel just nodded her head as she slumped away to her room to get ready.

* * *

The school day went by well this time, at lunch Rachel got to sit with the Berry Men Crew and they all chatted, Mike was attempting to fight Brittany for his lunch back, which he lost until Rachel gave Brittany a look and the dog gave it back. Sam was doing impressions, and Tina was organising a sleepover again for the Saturday. It was a good lunch Rachel mused as she was at her locker when she heard people gathering around again, Brittany backed a bit away and into the brunette's legs with a slight whimper.

"Not this again," she muttered as she shut her locker and turned around expecting to be greeted with a slushy...except she wasn't.

In front of her stood four jocks, two from the football team, and the other two were from the hockey team.

"We hear you fight good," one of them, Aaron - Rachel thought his name was, said.

"Depends on who you ask," Rachel answered, "What do you guys want?"

"We want to see how strong you really are,"

"And I don't want to fight you,"

"We'll take your dog,"

"You touch her and you'll be sorry,"

Brittany bared her teeth at the boys in a snarl.

"Well, that's if she doesn't bite your hand off first, Karfosky got a lucky hold on her, she won't let it happen again, trust me," Rachel said with a slight snarl, "I suggest you leave us alone or you'll be going to the sick bay,"

"Let's just go dude, doesn't feel right fighting a girl," one of the hockey players said.

"She ain't a girl, look at her, she's an it, a hideous beast," Aaron said.

"What?"

"I think she is a beast, I mean, look at her teeth," the second hockey player said as he pointed at Rachel making her feel self concious about her teeth on the inside but didn't stop her glaring on the outside.

"All the better to eat you with," Santana said as she walked up to the crowd, "All of you bar these four get lost, nothing to see here,"

People started to move away as they worried about incurring the Latina's wrath.

When everyone but the four jocks were gone, Santana turned to look at them.

"You four are idiots, not only are you willing to put your spots on the team on the line but you wanted to try and prove your 'manliness' by beating up a girl who, one, is one of the most down and out people you'll ever meet so it'd be like kicking a damn puppy that was abandoned in a cardboard box on a rainy day, and two, has been able to kick the ass of a guy who's an even bigger asshole than I am with one punch?" she challenged, "Wow, I'm sure your Mama's are proud that they raised out standing boys like you,"

"Yeah, but she," Aaron started defiantly.

"Hey, if you wanna go against her and watch her go all Jekyll and Hyde on your sorry asses then fine by me, just remember that she now has a Latina on her side,"

"You, you're on her side, why?"

"None of your business, now scram, see this hair here, I gots razorblades all up in it, so get lost,"

"C'mon Aaron, let's just go, this ain't right," the second football player said.

"I want to fight her, GET OFF," Aaron said as he shoved his team mate away and swung his arm back so hard that he backhanded Santana in the face and sending her stumbling a bit back.

Brittany was livid as she barked angrily and jumped at him and bit his hand.

"WAH! Get her off, get her off ME! Help," Aaron screamed.

"Brittany, down," Rachel commanded but the dog didn't relent.

Aaron raised a hand punched the dog in the face making her yelp and fall.

"HEY!" Rachel said angrily as her blood boiled, "Don't, You, EVER, HURT, MY, FRIEND, AGAIN!"

Aaron didn't have enough time to react as Rachel lined up a punch and decked him in the face, not as hard as she did with Karofsky, so the boy was only hit hard enough that his head spun and he was in agony. His nose now bleeding badly.

"I didn't hit you as hard as hit Karofsky, believe me I can go harder, now get lost, I'm tired of all you asses trying to prove yourself a strong man, get away from me and get away from my friends, and trust me, you're in the shit hole now," Rachel spat as everyone looked at her, surprised that she swore.

"Told ya she'd go all Jekyll and Hyde on you," Santana said as she stood up, Brittany was by her side and looking at her with concern, "So, firstly, Aaron, you're off the team, Coach Sue just saw you do all this crap, secondly, to you three, if any of you EVER harass Berry again in anyway, including slushies, trust me when I say that the payback I will rain down on you will be more humiliating than her punching your lights out, capiche?"

The other three boys nodded their heads as they dragged a still dazed Aaron away.

"Semi Thanks Santana," Rachel said, "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine, just embarrassed that I let his back arm get me, but whatever," Santana said as she checked her nose and was glad that it wasn't bleeding.

"This doesn't change anything,"

"I don't expect it to, but it's a start, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose it is," Rachel said as she watched the Latina walk away.

Brittany nudged Rachel's hand and looked at her.

"We have violent assholes in this school," was all she said to the dog as Brittany just let out a sound of agreement.

* * *

News of Aaron being kicked off the football team and suspended for harassing Rachel spread like wildfire, so much so that now almost everyone was leaving Rachel alone, and for that she was she was getting the respite and peace she wanted.

It was now the end of the school day and Rachel and Brittany were probably among the last to exit the now more or less empty school hallways.

Rachel had a small smile at that, it was nice to be left alone for the time being. Well, until she heard and felt someone stop themselves right next to her, causing her to sigh.

She really didn't want another confrontation. She shut her locker in annoyance, forgetting that Brittany hadn't actually reacted at all to the person waiting for her as she looked and said, "Can I...Quinn?"

"Hi," Quinn said.

"Uh, can I help you?"

"I just wanted to see how you were,"

"Why?"

"I heard what happened, are you okay? B okay?"

"We're good, aren't we Bounder?"

Brittany let out a strong and happy bark.

"See, we're good," Rachel said.

"Okay," Quinn said, unsure of what to do.

"You need something,"

"I honestly don't know, I just felt like I had to see how you were and here I am,"

Rachel just looked at the blonde before asking, "Don't you have Glee right now?"

"Yep,"

"And you're not there because?"

"Two and a half words, 'Mercedes 'n' Kurt,"

"Ah, still going rough I see,"

"Oh yeah, those two have no damn idea as to what they're doing, they're always singing out of their own range or they're doing things that are so predictable that it does nothing for building up actual abilities, it's annoying, when you were there we at least had some focus,"

Rachel just looked at her but couldn't say anything as they were both interrupted by the opening of the school entrance doors and storming feet coming down the hallway.

"YOU!" Francine said as she stormed up to Quinn.

"Frannie?" Quinn said as she took a step back.

Brittany was now alert and snarling at the older blonde.

"Shut up you Mut," Francine snarled.

But before Rachel could say anything Quinn beat her to it, "HEY, lay off the dog, she's a good dog," Quinn said.

"Whatever, I'm here for one thing and one thing alone,"

"And that is what?"

"To get this off my chest,"

"What?"

"Why'd you have to talk to Mom and Dad about me?" Francine asked angrily.

"I just voiced my opinion, that's all, I don't know why you're so mean to me all the time, in fact if you hate me so much just leave me alone," Quinn said back as she unconsciously reached out and took Rachel's hand for comfort. The brunette didn't make a scene just squeezed her support back.

"Fine, I will then, you're a lousy sister anyway," Francine sneered.

"I don't know why I ever tried to be like you, I wanted to be you so I was cruel because you told me that that was the way to survive, that Mom and Dad's way wouldn't work any more, but I just, I can't any more, you, you're a terrible person and I'm glad I decided to start changing,"

"Change? Ha! A leopard will never lose its' spots, and a tiger will never lose its' stripes, or however that thing goes, you will never change and I know that the moment things get heard you'll go back to being cruel because it will be the only thing you know, you're a spineless bint,"

"I will change and I will prove it,"

"Oh you will you? Is it because of that thing that's holding on to you?"

"She has a name and her name is Rachel and she's more beautiful than you'll ever be, you're a beast,"

"Me? A beast, HA, at least I was always beautiful unlike you, YOU'RE a beast too,"

"I never claimed I wasn't,"

Francine just glared at her before spitting out, "Well then I think I'll leave, it's over between us Caboosey I don't ever want to see you again, but you should do the world a favour and kill yourself because you're a terrible person,"

"HEY!" Rachel snapped, "That's a horrible thing to say, you don't say things like that to people, and stop being mean to Quinn,"

"Oh she does speak, I thought you were mute," Francine mocked back as Brittany growled again and stood in front of Rachel and Quinn making Francine move a bit back.

"I was going to stay silent but you crossed a line, you should never tell someone to kill themselves, ever, and I'll be honest your attitude stinks,"

"At least I look beautiful,"

"Your beauty will age with time and not even all the plastic surgery in the world will be able to fix that, so do as you said you would, leave Quinn alone and if you can't even find it in your heart to be somewhat kind to her then leave her life forever because she doesn't need someone so toxic to her self-esteem,"

"Fine, I'll leave and I'll make sure Nana knows about your gay relationship too,"

"We're not dating, Quinn can do far better than me, I'm just a potential friend,"

"Rachel?" Quinn started but Rachel silenced her with the raise of her hand.

"Whatever," Francine said, "God Quinnie, can't even get your Cheerios to back you up,"

"They've all gone home,"

"Whatever, you're a disgrace to the Head Cheerio position,"

"Why can't you be who you were? Why? What happened? Why can't you love me like you used to Frannie? Why?"

"Because you're not worth loving Caboosey," Francine said as she stormed off.

Quinn had a small tear run down her face as Rachel used her not so good hand to wipe it away, (she had no idea as to what possessed her to do this small action).

"Despite all that you have done Quinn, you do deserve to be loved, you and Santana both deserve love as much as the next person," Rachel said softly.

As the Head Cheerio watched her sister leave she turned to look at Rachel and said, "Thank you, that means a lot to me,"

Rachel just shrugged her shoulders.

* * *

After the school fiasco with her sister, Quinn started walking home after she bid Rachel and Brittany goodbye and had a small sad smile on her face as she watched the dog happily run ahead and find a stick to start playing fetch with her friend.

She thought about what she had said to her sister, the words had slipped out but on some level she knew that she meant it, she wanted to change, she knew she needed to, but how? Was the question that was being asked as the answer just seemed unclear. She sighed at that as a car pulled up beside her making her pause.

"Get in," Francine said.

"I thought you weren't talking to me," Quinn said.

"Just get in,"

Quinn paused and then did so as she sat in the front seat and waited for her sister to talk to her.

"Look, I'm sorry I said those mean things, okay, I just wanted you to be strong, Mom and Dad, they're good people but they aren't strong, you won't get rich or powerful being like them," Frannie said as Quinn just raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

Francine wanted Quinn to say something but the younger girl remained silent.

"Look, I know you little sister, and I know you crave power, and I know full well that if you try and change to be good your school friends will eat you alive,"

"I can take care of myself,"

"Can you? Coach Sue told me how you weren't being your usual powerful self, some of the Cheerios you were supposed to control got into a damn fight with that thing,"

"Rachel,"

"Whatever, the jocks aren't cowering in fear as much with you, she told me all this, do you want your High School life to be miserable with no stories of your true power and abilities to live on as a legacy?"

"I, I, um,"

"Look Quinn, I have a way that you can show everyone that you're not afraid to do whatever it takes to be on top,"

"Okay?"

"You must fake date someone and then humiliate them,"

"What? Why? How would that even work?"

"Because it shows that you can bend anyone to your will if you so wish, date them, humiliate them, dump them, and people will know not to mess with you, and hey, this will make sure you and I can go back to being proper sisters because it'll show me that you will actually do as I say, I mean, don't you want to mend this relationship with me?"

Quinn felt torn, she didn't know what to do as her insides were in turmoil, but the side of her that wanted her sister back on her side again, to be as she once was won out.

"So, who do you think I have to date to get back on top?" she asked.

"Well, why don't you date that Rachel Berry? Date her, crush her, and leave her, and all this anger between us will go and I promise I'll treat you like I once did,"

"Promise?"

"Yeah, promise,"

"Okay, I'll do it," Quinn said.

* * *

 **AN 2:** Yep, here it comes, the stupid decision made by Quinn because she's a bit of a dingbat. But as to whether or not she'll break Rachel's heart remains to be seen and I shall not spoil. Until next time.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:** With regards to the last chapter:

It is amazing to see how much power some older sisters (or any other relative) have over their younger sisters (I have witnessed it - emotional manipulation is one powerful thing); there are some truly manipulative and horrible people out there and this is what I want to show with Frannie, she knows that Quinn loves her no matter what and she knows that Quinn will do almost anything to have her love again, so yes I understand if a lot of you get frustrated and angry, (so yay, one half of my mission in that regard is accomplished) but I was also hoping you'd see it from Quinn's perspective and feel for her a bit. She is a kid who has to sort out her life and she needs to be a kid who grows up and realises that her older sister is just manipulating her into doing things she knows deep down she shouldn't.

As for Frannie's deal, we'll see the why eventually.

Anyway, I will be working with the Faberry relationship as it goes through the years, yes, years, as I plan to take this story well into their College/University lives and until Rachel reaches at least the age of 21. So they will have a while to build up a good honest relationship.

As for this chapter, well, similar to the Paternoster Gang in Doctor Who, I will have the Berry Men Crew in this chapter because you know, I miss having them and we need a bit of fun. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 13:**

Today Santana was feeling a bit nervous, and no, it wasn't because she was going to hang out with Rachel for the first time, it was because she was hanging out with Rachel but Tina was there too glaring at her the entire time. Who knew that the quiet Asian girl could be scary?!

"You gonna stare at me the entire time there Gothika?" she asked as Brittany walked up to her leaned her head on the Latina's lap.

"Yes, I don't trust you," Tina said strongly.

"Okay, I get that, but stop staring, you're creeping me out,"

"No,"

Rachel was biting down on her lips to stop herself from laughing.

This particular Friday afternoon wasn't so bad, as said, it was Santana's first time in Rachel's apartment and the Latina was impressed that the brunette lived and survived well in the place.

When she had walked through the door Brittany had bounded over quickly and jumped on top of her with so much energy the Latina actually toppled back out of the door and into the hallway.

 _"Hey B, hello," Santana had laughed a rare laugh as she tried to push the happy Labrador away, "Okay, okay, off, B, OFF,"_

 _Brittany just barked as she bounded away again only to race back and jump on to the Latina._

 _"Boy she's happy," Santana commented as Rachel gave a small smile._

 _"She misses you," Rachel answered._

 _"I miss you too B," Santana said as she hugged the happy dog around the neck._

 _"So, what do you want to do?"_

 _"No idea, we could just talk,"_

 _"Or we could play a board game,"_

 _"Really, what do you have in mind?"_

 _"Well, Tina, Mike, and Sam are coming over and Tina's bringing her board, so you know,"_

 _"I'm going to hang out with you and the Berry Men Crew?"_

 _"That what?"_

 _"Berry Men Crew, you know, like Merry Men with Robin Hood,"_

 _"You know about Robin Hood?"_

 _"I like to read okay,"_

 _"Wow, Brittany, is Santana a bookworm?"_

 _The dog just barked and nodded her head._

 _"Hey, B, shush," Santana started._

 _"Too late, it's out now," Rachel laughed as Santana turned a bit red._

And now here they were. Tina was the first to arrive and as the three waited for the boys to arrive, Tina was sat glaring at Santana, Rachel was preparing snacks, Santana was sat on the couch trying to avoid looking at the Asian girl, and Brittany was, well, being Brittany as she bounded around and jumped onto Santana and waited for the Latina to stroke her fur before bounding off again to find something else to do and came back with her toy rope so she could play tug-of-war with the Latina.

"Stop staring at me Asian," Santana started but fell off the couch as Brittany had won the tug of war, "Whoa, ow,"

As she looked up she came face to face with the Labrador who was looking at her with a not so innocent look on her face.

"You wanted me to fall, you suck," she said in a deadpan voice to Brittany who just barked happily at her then licked her face, "Cheat, you know I can't stay mad at you,"

Tina tried hard not to falter in her glaring at that particular moment.

"Tina, stop glaring at Santana, she was invited here," Rachel said as she walked up to the table and put snacks on it.

"I still don't trust her," Tina said.

"Well, I'll be gone soon anyway," Santana said, "My hour is almost up,"

"Hour?"

"That was the deal, I get to spend on hour every Friday with Berry and Britts for the first month and then we'll go from there,"

Tina looked at Rachel.

"I'm not keeping her away from someone she loves because of history," Rachel shrugged.

"Too much compassion to a monster," Tina grumbled.

"What was that?" Santana asked annoyed.

"Nothing,"

Santana just grumbled as a knock on the door had Brittany racing and barking happily at the sound.

"It's open," Rachel called out as Sam opened the door.

"Hello," Sam said as he came in with crisps and dip, "I came with Mike,"

As everyone turned to look at the Asian boy they could see him yelp as Brittany bounded over to him first and jumped on him.

"Holy, god, Brittany, no, off," Mike yelped as Sam laughed at him, "Why me?"

"She knows you have chicken with you," Sam said.

"Oh, you guys brought chicken today?" Rachel said.

"Yeah, Mike's family recipe, AND, he mad a tofu version just for you,"

"Yay, Brittany, come back here," Rachel commanded but the Labrador didn't listen to her.

"B, Here, Now," Santana said as the dog stopped and looked at her before looking at Mike then back at Santana, "C'mon B, poor guy looks exhausted with you always teasing him,"

Brittany shrank a bit at that and whimpered.

"It's okay Brittany," Mike started, "Just, not all the time,"

"B, come here," Santana said as the dog slinked towards her.

Santana gave her a hug and ruffled her fur a bit, "You are still too playful," Santana said as she kissed the top of the dog's head.

"Hey Santana, you wanna play the board game with us?" Sam asked.

"Which one is it?"

"Monopoly,"

"Uh, I can't,"

"Why?"

"I promised Yentl that I'd be here just for the hour and then I'm off,"

"Oh,"

"Yeah, and we all know that after the screaming we'll be doing with each other, this game will have us here until midnight,"

"That is true, plus we have dinner and video games too, I brought my console with controllers, so it will take a while, sorry,"

Santana just shrugged.

-page break-

As the game was under way, Santana looked at Brittany and patted her head. The Latina was just enjoying the fact that she could be with her best friend while internally laughing at the Berry Men Crew. Especially Mike who was quite comical when he was frustrated, especially because he was losing to Brittany in Monopoly.

"This game is fixed, I swear to God, who the hell goes to jail about twenty-five times in a row?" he said loudly.

"You're just a deviant Michael, that's all there is to it," Rachel teased.

"Hey, not my fault Brittany has a Monopoly on the reds and yellows,"

"You must be getting frustrated if you start talking about reds and yellows just as you're talking about jail time,"

"I, I, well, I, this isn't fair, this game is rigged,"

"It's Monopoly, it's not rigged,"

Mike ended up flailing his arms in frustration as he sat with a huff.

Tina just patted his back and laughed at him.

"And I can't believe I'm losing to a dog," he huffed.

"Hey, a dog who is human Chang," Santana said sternly as he just looked at her.

Brittany looked up at Santana with a happy look on her face.

"Good B," Santana said as she stroked the dog's head, "Beating Chang at a game while you're a dog, good on you,"

Brittany let out a happy bark as Rachel laughed at Mike's face as did Sam. Tina just patted the poor boy's back in comfort.

"It's just a game Mike," Tina offered.

"It's not just a game, it's the game, I can't believe I went to jail twenty-five times, in a row," Mike grumbled.

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,"

Mike said nothing to that.

As the game continued, Santana stood up and stretched and was ready to go.

Brittany, sensing that it was the Latina's time to say goodbye walked to the door to block the Latina's way out and looked back up at her sadly, head slightly dipped and her body slightly hunch. She let out small whimpering sounds indicating that she didn't want the Latina to go.

"I'm sorry B, I gotta go," Santana said as she walked over to the door and softly placed a hand on the dog's head.

But the Labrador wouldn't move as her actions halted the intense Monopoly game for a moment as the crew looked on.

"B, I'll see you on Monday, okay, it's not like I won't see you again," the Latina said as she knelt down and looked at the sad dog.

She smiled as she kissed Brittany on the head and stood up and went to open the door.

Brittany had other ideas as she leaned hard against it.

"B, I gotta go, one hour is up and I made a promise," Santana said as Brittany just yelped and barked sadly, still leant against the door, "B, c'mon,"

Brittany just lay there as Santana sighed, she waved Sam over to come and help lift the dog away.

But as Sam got closer Brittany growled at him angrily.

"B!" Santana said before anyone could say anything making the dog look at her, "I don't want to go either, but if I want to work on change then I have to work on keeping my promise, you know this, step by step, okay?!"

Brittany just barked at her.

"B!" Santana said sternly than before making the dog stop, "Please, don't make this harder than it needs to be,"

Rachel in that moment stood up and walked over to Santana, "If you want, Brittany can go home with you today," she offered.

That made Brittany happy and then slightly torn as she had gotten up happily and then sat down sadly again. She didn't want to leave Rachel behind.

"It's nice of you to offer Yentl, but I can't," Santana said as Rachel looked at her, "You need her more than I do right now and it wouldn't be fair if I took her,"

Rachel kept looking at her.

"You know it's true," Santana said as Rachel slowly nodded her head, "Right, I have to go, see ya's,"

And with that Santana left the building.

Brittany just stayed sat by the door for a while, looking at it. The dog part of her wishing, hoping, that the Latina would come back, while her human side knew it wasn't to be.

"I guess we'll call the Monopoly game quits for now," Sam said, "Why don't we eat? Maybe Brittany will feel better afterwards,"

Everyone agreed to that.

* * *

It was now Saturday morning as Rachel woke up with a heavy body on her.

"Brittany?" Rachel mumbled as she turned a bit.

The dog however was still partly asleep and just let out a small sound.

"Rachel?" Tina said as she got up from the bed.

"Yeah?" Rachel mumbled again.

"I'm going to get coffee, you want coffee?"

"Yeah,"

"Brittany, coffee?"

The dog just let out a grumbled sound.

"Tina, dogs drink coffee not," Rachel strained as she stretched, opened her eyes partially and then closed them again.

"Oh yeah," Tina said slowly, "Brittany, go wake the boys up,"

At that Brittany looked up before slowly standing up and then bounding off the bed. She found Mike asleep on the couch in the living room and she smelt that Sam was in the second bedroom.

Brittany let out a small short sharp bark as she licked Mike's face to try and wake him up.

"No Tina, no kisses, I sleep," Mike said as he turned around.

Brittany just let out a quizzical sound as she pulled the blankets off the boy.

"No Mommy, I'm cold," Mike said as he tried to find the blanket.

Annoyed that her waking techniques weren't working, Brittany grabbed the boy's boxers (as he wasn't wearing a top) and yanked him off the couch.

"WHOOOOOOA!" Mike yelped as he fell onto the ground, "Brittany, what is it with you and pulling people onto the floor?"

Brittany just looked at him and walked smugly away to wake Sam up.

She wasn't fairing any better with Sam so she resorted to also pulling at him, when that didn't fully work as he was in the middle of the bed, she jumped on it and barked loudly at him.

"WHA! Dog, Dog, Up, Alarm, Up," Sam said quickly as he shot out up and looked at Brittany, "Jeez Brittany, way to wake a guy up,"

"She pulled me out of bed and pulled my boxers half down, consider yourself lucky," Mike said as he came into the room and grabbed his clothes and got dressed, "Why don't you wake the girls up?"

Brittany just looked at him.

"Don't give me that look," Mike said.

"Coffee," Tina called out to everyone.

"And that is probably why she didn't wake the girls up," Sam said, "Tina's up,"

"What about Rachel?" Mike asked.

"Brittany, is Rachel up?" Sam asked.

The dog just looked at him.

"Go get Rachel," Sam said as Brittany happily bounded away.

Upon entering the room, Brittany saw that Rachel was still asleep. So she quietly stalked around and jumped on the bed with the brunette and rested her head on the brunette's side. But Rachel wouldn't stir.

Brittany just let out a sound which Rachel slowly stirred to.

"Brittany? What's up?" Rachel asked but was asleep.

"I want food, I want it now, get out of bed," a female voice came making Rachel stand sit up rapidly and look at the dog.

"Did you just talk?"

"Yes I did, and I want food, get out of bed,"

"Sam, you SUCK!" Rachel said as she threw a pillow at the boy.

Sam just laughed, "Well, good to know my impressions are getting good,"

"OUT!" Rachel bellowed as she threw another pillow at him.

Brittany just let out her version of a snicker and barked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up, I'm up now," Rachel said as she groaned.

-page break-

It was later in the day as the crew decided to do what they normally did every Saturday as they headed off to the park.

Rachel as usual had her hoodie pulled completely up so she could avoid seeing the people who would stare at her.

"Brittany, fetch," Sam said as he threw a frisbee for the dog to race and capture.

Tina set up a picnic blanket and put their things on it so that they could eat later.

The crew were happily chatting away as Sam talked about a new movie coming out in the weekend that he wanted to see and the rest of the gang were partial about it, which made him pout.

"I just don't like people staring at me," Rachel said as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Screw them Rachel, besides, just growl at them and bare you teeth, scare them away," Sam suggested.

"Not making me feel better,"

"Sorry, I was trying to make you laugh,"

"It failed,"

"Well obviously,"

"Sorry Sam, I'm sure that alien movie is good, I just, I don't like those kinda of movies,"

"Then what type of movie do you like?"

"Drama ones I guess, the one where the girl gets the girl,"

"Oh...wait, what?"

"What?"

"You, you like girl gets the girl kind of movies?"

"Yeah, problem?"

"Wow, so uh, do you, uh, sorta kinda like girls?"

"Well, I sorta kinda more than do,"

"Cool, damn, guess that had I really been interested in you I'd have been shot down?"

"Not necessarily,"

"Oh?"

"Look, if we're going to go into this then I'll you that I'm pansexual, I love someone regardless of what identity on any level they are, I just love the person,"

"You know you don't have to explain yourself to me, besides all I asked was what type of movie you like, it doesn't to matter me who you want to have as a partner, I'm your best bud...I think,"

"Thank you Sam,"

"So, girl gets the girl...hmmm, I honestly can't think of many movies with that style of ending,"

"There aren't many and chances are, I've probably seen them,"

"Hmmm,"

"But I also like action movies, just to let you know,"

"How about Musicals?"

Rachel paused for a moment before saying, "I used to like them,"

"Say no more,"

Rachel just looked at him.

-page break-

The crew soon finished their picnic lunch as they all got up to play Frisbee with Brittany happily chasing said toy around barking.

Rachel was laughing more than she had for a long time as she watched the Frisbee fly over her head.

"I'll go get it," she said as she ran off to find the missing Frisbee with Brittany in tow.

"It's nice to see young people like you three reaching out to people like her," an older woman said to the Berry Men Crew.

"Pardon?" Sam asked in a slight annoyance.

"Not many people would willingly hang out with someone who has a...special condition,"

"She's our friend," Mike started, "She doesn't have a special condition,"

"Well, what I mean to say is that it's nice to see kids who'll treat kids like her with respect and treat her normally,"

"Well, she is normal," Sam said as he looked at the lady, "Look, I get what you're saying and we're flattered, but Rachel's our friend, we treat her normally because she is normal and really if you want her to feel normal then you don't need to tell us that we're doing something good,"

"We do what we do because we care and she's our friend, simple as that," Tina said with a shrug.

"Hey guys, what's...oh, um, I, hello," Rachel said.

"Hi, I was just talking to your friends," the lady said as she walked away, "Good day,"

Rachel just looked at the other three.

"Not worth your time," Sam said, "Now c'mon, bet Brittany can't catch this whopper I'm going to throw,"

Sam then took the Frisbee from Rachel's hand and threw it as hard as he could as he and Mike ran after the Frisbee with Brittany in the lead.

Rachel turned to look at Tina who said, "Really Rachel, it's not worth your time,"

"Okay then," Rachel said, "I'll let it slide this time,"

Tina smiled as the two girls heard a loud yelp and splash. Turning to look the two girls ending up laughing like crazy as they saw Brittany barking happily and bounding around the edge of the pond and looking at Sam and Mike who had both fallen in.

The two boys sat up and glared at Brittany with Mike saying loudly, "Brittany, You, SUCK!"

The dog just bounded happily away with the Frisbee in her mouth.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there we are team. Until next time.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN:** So here we are. There's a lot of dialogue here, so I hope it's still good. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 14:**

Bark, bark, bark. That's all Rachel heard the Monday morning as Brittany was barking at her and running from the bedroom and to the front door.

"Brittany shush," Rachel grumbled, "Every morning you do this, every morning,"

Brittany didn't care as she jumped on the bed and barked and then bounded off again to the front door.

"Yentl, if you don't open the door for me I'll just open it for you," Santana was heard saying from the other side, not that Rachel heard it as she was a room away, "Fine, I'm opening it,"

Santana began to pick the lock of the door and opened it as Brittany jumped into her arms and made her fall onto the floor.

"You really have to stop doing this to me every time I'm at the door B, I think my back is going weird," Santana said as she looked at her happy friend.

Brittany just licked her face before racing away again to get Rachel as the Latina chuckled and stood up.

She walked in and shut the door as she went into Rachel's room.

"C'mon Rachel, get out of bed," Santana said as she stood by the door.

"Did you pick my lock again?" Rachel muffled through her pillow.

"Yes,"

"You really have to stop doing that,"

"You should really have just gotten up, I knocked three times,"

Rachel just lifted her head and looked at the Latina, "What are you doing here anyway Santana?" she asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go and do something?"

"I don't like going outside,"

"Hey, you have me now and no one will mess with you,"

Rachel looked at her, "Well, I do like going to the park,"

"Again with the park?"

"Yeah, I like the place,"

Santana sighed, it had been about three months now since she started hanging out with Rachel and the Berry Men Crew and she had to admit to herself that she loved it. Not that she'd tell them in person though.

The relationship was slow and hard to start off with. Sam was the easiest to win over. He just had a trusting nature as well as a cautious eye. Next was Mike, the boy finally warmed up to the Latina about three weeks after she started hanging out every Friday for one hour with Rachel and Brittany; and of course seeing the Latina pick Rachel up for school as she lived closer to the apartment than the others.

Tina was the hardest to win over, the girl took about a month before anything really changed. Not that the Latina was surprised at that. In fact, if she remembered right the time when Tina realised that Santana had really started to change was when some of the jocks spotted Tina on her own and had made their way to slushy the girl only to be stopped by the Latina who told them that if they slushied the Goth girl then they'd be expelled.  
Tina's biggest surprise was when Santana just out right said the words, _"Hey, you mess with my friends again and I'll make sure Sue gets you off the team and out of the school,"_

 _"You wouldn't," the jock had said._

 _"Try me puto,"_

People generally left Rachel and the Berry Men Crew alone after that.

As for Rachel, well, it was hard to tell with her most days. The brunette was quiet and reserved as was to be expected. Some days she was open and talkative and other days she was just quiet.  
In fact, after the first month of Santana being around and picking her up every morning to go to school, Rachel was just used to her being there.

 _"You can come around more often if you like," Rachel had said to the Latina._

 _"Really?" Santana stated rather than asked._

 _"Yeah, you've been really good lately and I just, I think Brittany likes you being around and I personally don't mind you being around,"_

 _"You do realise that this is a huge step in this relationship of ours,"_

 _"I know, but I feel that you've earned it,"_

 _Santana had given her a rare smile as Brittany barked happily and began jumping onto the Latina to try and hug her._

 _"B, B, you're heavy," The Latina had to breath out while trying to catch her breath._

So here they were, this was now Santana breaking into Rachel's home number seven.

"C'mon Berry, out of bed," Santana said as she pulled the blanket's away.

"I'm back to Berry now am I?" Rachel strained as she turned her back to the Latina and tried to sleep more.

"Yes, because you're wasting a good day, c'mon, out,"

"No,"

"Berry, I swear to God I will pull you out of bed if I have to,"

"Brittany will bite you,"

Brittany just paused at that and looked from Santana to Rachel and then moved closer to Rachel's foot.

"I doubt that, B looks like she wants to pull you out of bed," Santana said as Brittany barked in agreement.

"You do that Brittany and I'm not feeding you kibble for a week," Rachel mumbled through her pillow again.

Brittany just let out an annoyed bark.

Santana laughed as she sat down on the bed, "C'mon, let's go do something, I know Gothika is having family day with her 'rents, Trouty Mouth is also having a family day today, and Rubber Band is at a open dancing workshop, not that he needs it, so it means you've got nothing to do on this wonderful Monday and I think you need to go out and do something,"

Rachel sat up in her bed and looked at the Latina, "Santana, I can't go out looking like this, you know that, people are still staring at me and whispering horrible things,"

"Okay, two words for that, 'Fuck Them', the only problem that's there is they themselves and if they can't deal with the way you look then that's their problem, you don't need to care about that,"

Rachel gave her a look before saying, "But you know that I do,"

"I know, and I'm sorry that for all these years you kept thinking you were ugly but you ain't, okay, not even with this crap on you, you ain't ugly, hell you even look cool alternative to me sometimes and if I didn't have B, honestly I'd go for you,"

Brittany just glared at Santana and growled at her.

"Hey, just being honest there B, but I do have you so stop worrying," Santana said as she looked at the dog.

Brittany just let out a huff.

"I'm flattered, I think" Rachel said as she reached out and patted Brittany's head.

"You should be, I'm a piece of hot ass that everyone wants," Santana smirked.

"Well, except for Sam,"

"His loss,"

"And Tina,"

"Her loss,"

"And Mike,"

"His loss,"

"And me,"

"Your loss,"

"Smart ass,"

"Don't you know it," Santana said, "Now c'mon, get up, let's go do something,"

"How about a hike?" Rachel suggested, "It'd be good exercise for Brittany, I mean we have to keep her on a leash and carry plastic bags and all that, but still,"

"If B goes again like she did in the park, I'm going to be annoyed with her," Santana said looking at Brittany who looked innocently away, "Hey B, I know that when you gotta go, you gotta go, but couldn't you have at least gone in the bushes and NOT in the middle of the road?"

Brittany gave her a look.

"I don't care if it was an empty road, it was dangerous and it was gross," Santana said.

Brittany shifted her head a bit.

"I don't care, it was disgusting, go in the bushes next time like a normal person," Santana chastised the dog as Rachel looked between the two in amusement at this one sided conversation.

Brittany just let out a small sound.

"I don't care if you're a dog right now because you're also a human being, act like one," Santana concluded as Brittany huffed at her, "Hey, don't huff at me B,"

"Okay, enough now, shall we?"

"Yeah sure, get dressed and lets go,"

-page break-

The drive to the hiking area was pleasant. Santana and Rachel just talked about everything and anything.

Mostly music though.

"I don't care what you say, Adele has a great voice," Rachel said.

"I didn't say she didn't, I'm just saying she ain't my style too much and that she sings almost the same way," Santana said back.

"She's clever, she has music that's written for the key she knows works best for her,"

"Hmmm, true,"

The two paused for a moment before Santana asked, "So how has it been with Q?"

"Not bad, these last three months she's been kinda weird though, I mean at Sunday outings with her family she's acting like she's okay, but when it's just the two of us, she's just, I don't know, acting weird," Rachel answered.

"How so?"

"I don't know, it's like she's conflicted about something,"

"How are the Sunday hang outs?"

"They're good, Judy's learning how to cook Vegan which is fun and she's always doing motherly stuff with me which is great, Russel is hilarious, did you know that he tried to take eggs out of the pot and didn't check to see if the pot water had cooled down?"

"Sounds likes something he'd do," Santana laughed.

"Yeah, he is, plus he tells me stories and all that stuff, it's great have a good father figure around,"

"I bet,"

"One thing I always wonder though,"

"Hmmm,"

"I know she's your friend and all, but I...um..."

"You wanna know how Quinn ended up the way she did?"

"Yeah,"

"Not everyone turns out like their parents, good or bad, sometimes people are who they are, now as you know, I'm a bitch,"

"Actually, Brittany is a bitch, you're something else entirely,"

"Hey, don't insult my baby," Santana glared.

"Well she is, she's a female dog,"

Brittany was heard snickering in the back seat.

"Hey B, shush," Santana said, "I know that, but don't call her that,"

"Sorry, sorry, I won't joke like that again, you were saying,"

"Good, right, well, her sister, I don't like her at all, she's a terrible human being, if you think I'm bad she's much worse, she pulls Q down all the time, she keeps trying to make Quinn be exactly like her, but the problem is is that a part of Quinn is too much like her parents too and that's why she's so confusing,"

"Oh?"

"Quinn loves her sister, she really does, and she'd do anything for her, anything, Fran knows that, but Fran only loves herself, in fact the only thing she loves just as much as herself is money; did you know that she's dating this old guy just so she can get half of his fortune?"

"How'd you know all this?"

"I have my ways, but Q, I told her many times that Fran isn't worth her love, she isn't, Fran just loves torturing Quinn, she manipulates her emotions by promising to love her like she used to and all that shit, I've seen it; but no matter how hard I've tried to talk to her about it, Quinn won't listen to me so I just decided that I'd be there to support her,"

"You're a very odd person, you support her but then you go and do things like sleep with her boyfriend,"

"I know, but I gots my reasons, stupid as they are,"

"And that would be?"

"One moment," Santana said as she looked out across the road to the turn the car into the parking lot before finding a parking spot, "Frankenteen doesn't love Quinn like he should, he's a cheater and he's a hypocrite, surly you've seen that,"

"I have,"

"As much as we clash with each other at times, Q deserves someone who'll love her and not someone who'll just manipulate her emotions, he may be a moron but Finn knows that Quinn wants to be like Fran and he knows that she wants to be popular because Fran told her that to survive High School she needed to be popular, so he used that to his advantage, whether he realised it or not it doesn't matter, I figured I'd end that by making him cheat because if there's one thing that Q is strong on it's fidelity, she doesn't like people cheating and it's why she came clean when she nearly kissed Puckerman,"

Brittany had half feelings about that Santana sleeping with Finn as she growled at the Latina.

"I'm sorry I know hurt your feelings B, but I was doing it for Q," Santana said, "Besides, you can't growl at me for anything as you've slept around too,"

The dog huffed in defeat at that one as the trio got out of the car.

"And here I thought you were doing it because you wanted to mess with her," Rachel said as she shut the car door and waited for the Latina to lock everything up.

"People can think that all the hell they want, Q is my girl and I'll be there for her," Santana said as the two began to walk in the direction of the tracks.

"What about me?"

"Well, you're my girl now, so I gots your back and you knows it,"

"Yes, I know it,"

\- page break -

As the trio walked along one of their favourite tracks that would take them along the river bed and then up a small hill. Santana unclipped Brittany's leash so that she could let the dog run through the water as the two girls sat for a bit to take a break.

Santana found a thick enough stick to throw as Brittany barked happily and played fetch with the two.

The sun was nice and strong enough that day and the sky was clear. Making it good weather to relax in as well.

Rachel had come to love hiking as it was a hobby that was away from the world, it felt like she could escape into the woods and just be amongst the trees. Santana actually was the one who had suggested she try it and she come to love it. Sam loved it almost as much as she did and had gone trekking with her and Santana before a few times. Tina hated it, and Mike was partial.  
So most of the time it was either Santana, Sam, and Rachel; or it was more often just Santana and Rachel who would go trekking through the outer national park area with Brittany.

"I like this area," Santana said quietly as she took the stick from Brittany's mouth and threw it again.

"Me too," Rachel said.

"We should go camping,"

"We should?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun,"

"You? Do camping?"

"Yeah, it's a lot of fun, when I was younger I used to do it with my father all the time, but as I got older, well, he hardly had time for me, Mami too,"

"Oh,"

"Yeah, but you know how it feels to be an only child huh?"

"When I was younger, yeah,"

"Sorry, you know what I mean,"

"I do,"

"So, camping?"

"Yeah, I think there's a camping spot not far from here,"

"It's just over the ridge over there, accessible by car,"

"Cool,"

"So, who are we taking?"

"I figured it'd just be us,"

"You okay with inviting Q?"

Rachel paused for a moment and looked at Santana.

"I just think it'd be a good chance for her to see you for you, you know, that girl is actually a lot lonelier than you think," Santana said.

"Really?" Rachel asked in surprise.

"Yeah, don't be so surprised, but apart from me, Q doesn't really have any friends that she hangs out with,"

"She doesn't? I, but, she's the most popular girl in school,"

"And it's lonely at the top, people are scared to be her friend for fear of her wrath, plus popular life in school is completely different from life outside of school,"

"I suppose,"

"I just figured this would be a good bonding opportunity, she can be a bit hopeless at times with the asking thing,"

Rachel just looked at her.

"Or we can just forget it, it's up to you," Santana finished.

"We'll invite her, we'll just figure out dates and stuff," Rachel said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, this'll be fun,"

Santana just smiled at that.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there we are team. Until next time.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN:** I forgot to say that the kids are (obviously) on school break. Also, this chapter will be from Brittany's point of view...mostly.

* * *

 **Chapter 15:**

Brittany was just staring out the window with sadness today as she let out a doggy sigh. The weather was terrible compared to the prior day when the sun was shining and she could go running along the forest track with Santana and Rachel.

The rain was currently pelting down and creating a rhythmic sound against the window.

Santana was over again with the Berry Men Crew as they all decided to put plans together for the camping trip. Quinn would hopefully arrive shortly.

Needless to say, Brittany could hear her at the end of the line sounding shocked when Rachel invited her. But the dog was happy when she heard Quinn say yes.

Right now though, she wasn't a happy puppy.

"B, come here," Santana called over but Brittany refused to move.

"I'm assuming she's sulking because of the weather," Tina said.

"Yep,"

"Must be a dog thing,"

"Nope,"

"What do you mean nope?"

"Brittany's always been like this, if she's stuck inside during the rainy days she gets very, very, pouty," Santana explained to the others, "B come here, I'll give you my special Latina cuddles,"

Brittany just sighed again as she moved away from the window and slowly stalked over to Santana and heavily leant her head against the Latina's leg.

"Oh poor puppy," Santana said as she ruffled the Labrador's fur a bit.

Brittany just sighed into her arms.

Rachel just smiled at that.

A moment later though Brittany's head perked up and looked over at the door before she herself decided to bound over there, barking happily.

Quinn was here and she had to let everyone know that as she jumped at the door and barked as she heard the other blonde knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Santana said as she stood up and walked over to the door, "Hey Q, glad you could make it,"

"Hi Quinn," Rachel said as Quinn smiled at her, "Come in, your clothes can be hung over there, and you can come and gorge yourself on the food Mike has brought along,"

"Hey everyone, thank you for inviting me," Quinn said as she hung her coat up and then found a place to sit on the floor.

"You can sit on a couch you know, we won't bite,"

"I might," Tina said as Rachel nudged her hard in the side, "Ow,"

"Shut up," Rachel hissed lowly.

"Okay, okay, sorry,"

Quinn just smiled at that, "I'm happy on the floor, " she said, "I can cuddle Brittany if she wants me to,"

Brittany felt happy at that as she decided that she wanted to get her blonde cuddles now as she walked over to Quinn and propped her front legs over the blonde's shoulders.

"Oh god, Brittany, weight," Quinn breathed.

Brittany huffed at that as she jumped off, what was it and people saying she was heavy? She wasn't that heavy...she wasn't.

'Oh well,' she thought to herself as she went up to Quinn's lap and lay down as she rested a bit as Quinn rubbed her and soon felt herself doze off as the crew began to make plans for their camping trip.

She had a nice dream too, in her dream she was with her Mama and they were baking.

 _"Brittany," her Mama had said._

 _"Yes Mama?" Brittany said as she looked at her mother, she realised that she was about four years old._

 _"Come here and learn this,"_

 _"Okay Mama, what am I learning?"_

 _"You're learning how to do alchemy today so pay attention,"_

 _"Okay Mama,"_

But the dream soon changed as it soon became her playing with Santana and Quinn when they were small.

 _"C'mon B, let's go," five year old Santana called out._

 _"Lucy, c'mon," fiver year old Brittany said to a young little chubby blonde girl._

 _"I don't know Brittany," five year old Quinn said, "And my name's Quinn, Frannie says I should be called Quinn,"_

 _"Okay, Quinn, c'mon, let's go down the slide,"_

 _"I don't know,"_

 _"It'll be fun,"_

 _"But I'm scared,"_

 _"Why?"_

 _"There's a pretty girl sitting there,"_

 _Brittany looked over, "Oh, she's pretty, but it's okay she looks nice too,"_

 _"Who looks nice?" Santana asked._

 _"Quinn thinks that that girl there is pretty,"_

 _Santana looked over, "Oh, I know her, she's the TV guy's kid, Rachel I think, let's go play, c'mon I want to play,"_

 _"We should play with Rachel, she looks all alone up there," Brittany suggested._

 _"I don't care, I just want to play,"_

 _"I think that spot for camping is a good idea, Brittany can run around better there and dogs are allowed, we just need to bring proper gear," Quinn's said with Rachel's voice...wait, what?_

Brittany opened her eyes and sat up.

"Good morning sleepy head," Rachel said as Brittany got up groggily and then went over to Rachel, "C'mon up Brittany, I know you want to,"

The Labrador moved back a bit to gain momentum and then jumped onto the couch.

"Brittany, dog butt in my face," Tina laughed as Brittany moved around a bit to get her position right so that she could partially lie on Tina but be mostly on Rachel.

"So, is everyone happy with the plans?" Santana asked.

"Yeah, they sound good to me," Rachel said as she scratched Brittany behind the ears.

Brittany looked up at Rachel.

"We're going to go camping tomorrow and we're going to be gone for five days," Rachel said as Brittany let out a short and happy bark.

She liked the forest, she really did. And she enjoyed it even more so as a dog. She could run around as carefree as she wanted and she could chase the squirrels. That was always fun.

"You'll have fun, won't you B B," Rachel said as she rubbed the dog's belly before rubbing her head.

"So everyone got permission from their 'rents?" Santana asked as Rachel looked at her, "Besides you Yentl,"

"Hey, don't call her that," Quinn started.

"Don't worry Quinn," Rachel said, "Santana has a nickname for all of us, I'm Yentl, Tina is Gothika, Sam is Trouty Mouth, and Mike is Rubber Band, we have yet to think of one for her, I reckon Boobarella but she hates it,"

"My boobs aren't that big you perve," Santana said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Call Booky," Quinn said as everyone looked at her, "Oh come on, you guys have hung out with her long enough to know that she's a total bookworm, she reads all the time and when I say read I don't mean just Twilight stuff,"

"I don't like Twilight, I read part of the first book and it wasn't my thing, I only finished it because I felt I had to finish the first book at least,"

"So do you like Harry Potter?" Tina asked.

"Yes, I love the series more, you?" Santana asked.

"I liked both, yes, so the descriptions of the vampires annoyed me in Twilight, and I didn't like that they called Jacob a Werewolf when he's actually a shape shifter as per Native American traditions, but I didn't find it too bad overall, I like Terry Pratchett the most though, oh and Tamora Pierce,"

Quinn just laughed a bit before saying, "Before Santana makes you forget, she really loves books, she has a library of them at her house, call her Booky, that way it's an in joke for you guys and it can make her sound like she's a badass who takes underground gambler's debts,"

"You aren't calling me Booky," Santana started as Rachel looked at her, "What, no you're not,"

Rachel kept looking at her as she tapped Brittany to do the same.

Brittany smirked internally as she looked over at the Latina too.

"Okay, fine, fine, I'm Booky, now we need a name for Q," Santana sighed in defeat.

"Why don't we think one for her on the trip? It'd give us a chance to get to know her," Sam said, "Oh, and I'm totally available,"

Quinn laughed a bit before saying, "Sorry Sam, you're not my type,"

"Dammit," Sam joked.

"Oooo, so what is your type Quinn?" Rachel asked.

"Uh, I, um," Quinn stuttered.

"She likes dark hair on her potential partners," Santana said as Quinn glared at her, "What? You do, you go for people with brunette hair normally, oh and Quinn loves the one's who are kind hearted and giving, and she gives as much as she's given, I know because I observe and the only reason she was with Frankenteen and his oddly large limbs is because he could have helped with her popularity, glad it's not working out for him now though, the ass,"

"S, stop it,"

"I'm just saying it like it is, besides, I reckon if you were totally into girls like me, which I'm so sure you are,"

"Don't,"

"If you were into girls like me I reckon you should date Berry, she's like your perfect match,"

"I, uh, what?"

Rachel just laughed, "Oh please Santana, with this mug of mine, hell no,"

"Don't sell yourself short, and no comments on the fact that you are short," Santana cut her off making Rachel close her mouth quickly, "You're an amazing person and I'm sure Q will get to see that, I'm being honest here, YOU, Madam Berry, are Q's perfect match and dammit I wish you two were so in to each other because as much as I'd gag over this, as Brittany would say if she were still human, 'You two would be so cute with your sweet lady kissees',"

Quinn had no idea to say, Rachel just looked like a stunned mullet, Sam was busy laughing at their expressions, Mike had no clue as to what to say, and Tina was contemplating what Santana just said and was nodding her head to it.  
Brittany on the other hand, she loved that idea, in fact she was sure Quinn liked Rachel in some form. She got up and barked at that as she jumped up and down.

"See, told you, B agrees with me," Santana said.

A few awkward seconds later, Quinn said, "Okay, let's get back to the camping, we're off tomorrow and we need to get supplies,"

"Q, you brought your stuff already right?" Santana asked.

"Yeah, you told me that we're all going to do a sleep over right?"

"Oh good, you listened,"

Quinn just shot her a look.

-page break-

The night was actually quite fun for the teens as Quinn was slowly getting used to everyone and vice versa. She liked their dynamic and the feeling the group gave off and it was with them that she felt like she belonged even if today was really only her first day of hanging out with the crew.

After playing board games and card games, Mike, Tina, Sam, and Santana bid Rachel and Quinn goodnight as the brunette wasn't tired and Quinn just wanted to stay up.

Brittany didn't feel like sleeping just yet either as she barked a goodnight to Santana and padded her way over to Rachel and lay by her feet.

"Thanks for inviting me along, I thought this holiday was going to be a bit boring," Quinn said as Rachel smiled at her while her foot was softly rubbing Brittany's back.

"It's my pleasure, I hope you'll enjoy hanging out with us," Rachel said.

"I am opting out of poop duty though,"

Rachel laughed, "Don't worry, I make Santana do it, apparently I have a pout that's almost as strong as Brittany's,"

"That's gotta be one hell of a pout,"

"Possibly," Rachel said before she sighed and looked at Quinn, "So, Quinn, what's up?"

"What's up with what?"

"I know you've been conflicted these past few, well, months, and I wanna know what's up, I mean if you're okay talking to me about it that is,"

"Oh, um, I, I'm not comfortable talking about it just yet," Quinn said as her heart raced.

Brittany sat up and cocked her head to one side as she looked at the blonde and nudged her with her nose.

"I'm not ready to talk about it yet B," Quinn said out of habit, knowing exactly what Brittany wanted her to do.

"We won't force you, but know that we're here for you," Rachel smiled.

"Thank you,"

The two were quiet for a moment before Rachel asked, "Shall we go to bed? If we don't hurry Santana takes up all the room, oh, and beware her hugs,"

Quinn laughed before saying, "I've had sleep overs with Santana before, trust me I know all about her hugs,"

* * *

Brittany happily tried to bound around the parking lot when the crew arrived as she barked happily upon exiting Santana's car.

"Whoa, Brittany, careful," Sam said as he held the dog strongly around the chest.

"Oi, watch where your hands are going Trouty Mouth," Santana warned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know Booky, she's your girl and you'll maim me if I touch her wrong, but right now she's a dog, therefore it's no problem that I hold her back with my arm around her chest, isn't that right Brittany?" Sam said as he rubbed Brittany's chest making the dog let out a single happy bark as she licked his face.

Santana just growled at that, "When she's human again..."

"My hands will be off, I promise,"

You may be wondering why Santana could speak so freely about Brittany and her predicament...actually it was all Rachel's fault.

About a month after Santana started hanging out with the crew, the Berry Men Crew were hanging out at Rachel's place and Rachel had forgotten that Sam didn't know about Brittany just yet as she yelled at the dog who was escaping into the living room and making a mess, _"Brittany, I swear to God, when you're human again I'm telling your mother about all the trouble you're putting me through, get back here,"_

So what was it that Brittany had done? Well, it involved bath time. Tina had arrived early and Rachel was busy trying to give Brittany a bath with her as the dog had managed to get muddy and trekked mud through the apartment.  
Mike was kind enough to clean up the muddy tracks as the girls were washing the muddy dog while Santana was helping out by setting up dinner for the Saturday night hang out.  
Sam had just walked through the door which had been left open as Rachel yelled.

Sam had looked stunned as Rachel stormed out of the bathroom covered in mud and suds and holding a towel before she turned to look at him and turned pale.

 _"Oh, uh, Sam, hi," Rachel had said._

 _"Did you just say human?" Sam asked._

 _"Uh, I, um," Rachel stuttered before nodding her head._

 _"Are you being serious right now?" he asked as she nodded her head._

 _Sam looked at the others who were also spotting serious looks on their faces._

 _"So, uh, can someone explain to me how this happened?" Sam asked._

 _Rachel decided that she'd do the explaining since she didn't want Tina to get in trouble and she couldn't care less if the Elders returned to hex her. By the end of the story Sam just looked at her._

 _"Wow," he said._

 _"I know it's far fetched but it happened, I'm cursed, so is Brittany," Rachel said._

 _"That's pretty damn cool, I mean, not cool that the two of you are cursed, but it's so cool that magic exists, I never knew that,"_

 _"You promise not to tell?"_

 _"Of course, just tell me, who knows?"_

 _"Everyone in this room, oh and Quinn,"_

 _"Okay,"_

 _"And um, Sam,"_

 _"Yeah,"_

 _"Remember that rose I screamed at you about?"_

 _"You mean the day when I nearly crashed into it and you let out the most blood curling scream I've ever heard in my life?"_

 _"Yeah, that's my enchanted rose, if something happens to it, I'll stay this way forever,"_

 _"Okay, gotcha,"_

Since then the blonde boy had been happy and supportive and he acted like nothing had changed. It was like nothing bothered him.

 _"At the end of the day you are still you, and Bounder is still Bounder, when Brittany returns I look forward to meeting her in person," he had said with a grin._

Back to the present, Sam put a leash on Brittany as the dog was trying to run ahead of everyone but couldn't as Sam had put the leash end on the ground and stood on it so that he could get things to carry to the campsite.

"Here I'll take her," Rachel said as she took the leash, her rucksack already shouldered.

Brittany was too excited and impatient as she barked and yelped.

"Brittany, cut it out," Rachel said sternly but the dog didn't want to listen.

"B!" Santana called out making the dog stop, "I know you're excited and that the dog part of you is going crazy, but stop it, we're trying to get stuff out and ready and we can't do it if you keep trying to run off, now behave puppy,"

Brittany felt a bit hurt and dejected, she didn't like being yelled at.

"I'm sorry Brittany, but you gotta understand that we're trying to get things ready and if you keep trying to run off it just slows everything down," Rachel said as she knelt next to the dog and rubbed her head.

Brittany decided to apologise the only way she could as she leaned the top of her head against Rachel's chest.

"It's okay Brittany, just control yourself a bit," Rachel said as she patted the dog's side.

"Right, apologise done, let's get going," Santana said after a moment.

"Right, Brittany, we're going to the camp site that's that way, off you go," Rachel said as the dog became happy again with a bark and lead the crew towards the campsite.

-page break-

"I'm going to pitch the tent," Sam said proudly.

"Me too," Mike said.

Tina just groaned at that.

"What?" Sam asked mischievously.

"You were waiting to use that joke today, weren't you?" she asked rhetorically.

"Duh," Sam laughed as did Mike.

"Fine then, you two can pitch a tent together," Santana said, "Have fun crossing your bars and such,"

"Oh we will," Sam said, "And what are you three going to do?"

"Well, Q is going to get her mack on with Berry, and Tina, Brittany, and I, are going to find some firewood,"

"Wait, what?" Quinn asked turning red.

"You heard me, go to the river and get your mack on,"

"But I, we, um, we aren't,"

Rachel just laughed as she patted Quinn's back, "We're going to the river to get water and find some rocks for the fireplace,"

"Oh, okay, that sounds good to me,"

"Not as good as kissing her I bet," Santana smirked.

"Oh stop it," Rachel said as she looked at Santana, "Enough with the teasing, look at Quinn, she's about to hyperventilate,"

"Okay, okay, sorry, now vamos, let's all get set up and then we can go for a walk,"

* * *

 **AN 2:** Next chapter will be more of the camping trip and of course a Rachel and Quinn bonding moment.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN:** Bloody damn typos. Apologise about those team. Here's the next chapter, more of the camping trip and a scary ghost story. Now the Native American tribe I mention is NOT real and I do not wish to offend anyone so please take the 'ghost tale' with a grain of salt. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 16:**

As night began to fall, the crew were sat around the fire place that Santana and Tina had built eating their dinners and chatting.

Everyone learnt that day that Tina was a bit of a pyromaniac and were teasing her about it for a moment; (she had been so happy about starting a fire that she was cackling and then nearly caught fire herself because she wasn't paying attention); before Sam, who had brought his guitar along, began playing some songs as the crew decided to sing whatever song he played at the top of their lungs and as out of key as possible making Rachel laugh really hard at them for it.

Soon it was time to tell ghost stories and as each person went one by one none of them seemed to scare anyone...well, until they got to Quinn.

"Q, no, no, no, no, I know the story you're going to tell, and no," Santana started.

"Oh c'mon Booky, it can't be that scary," Sam said, "I mean Gothika told one and we expected hers to be super scary,"

Tina glared at him as Santana started laughing nervously and said, "Ha, ha, that's what you think Trouty Mouth, but I know the story Q's going to tell and it's going to make me shit my pants,"

"If you know what the story is then it won't be scary,"

"Yeah, think again, she adapts it pretty damn well to the place you're at,"

"You can go to bed if you like Santana," Quinn offered with a hint of teasing in her tone.

"I'm not going alone, the tent's over there, we're over here and the story images are already giving me the creeps," Santana said crossing her arms.

"Scaredy Cat, the tent's only six feet away,"

"Still far enough for the creepy to get me,"

"Take Brittany with you,"

"B?" Santana asked looking at the dog.

Brittany just gave her a look back before shuffling while still lying down closer to Rachel's legs determined not to move.

"Traitor," Santana grumbled as Sam patted her back.

"C'mon Q, tell us the story," Sam said.

"Okay," Quinn said as she settled in and began her tale;

 _'A long time ago, before the time when the 'white man' invaded the shores of what is now known as the United States, there were the people known as the Kapache's';_

 _They were a good and noble people and they lived off the land as their ancestors had before them._

 _Amongst them was a young boy named '_ _Kajika'; his name means 'walks without sound'; and that was what the boy was like. From the day he was born he was quiet, quick, the Elders of the tribe felt that he must've been born of a ghost because not only did he move without making a sound, he was white skinned and had piercing red eyes that could stare right into your very soul._

 _His own mother was terrified of him and was too scared to nurse him despite being assured by the tribe's shaman that everything was okay._

 _"He is a spirit child, look at him," the chief had said and that thought had stuck with everyone._

 _Since everyone was frightened of the boy he was often left to his own vices in a world that was still wild and dangerous. He ate nothing but scraps, learnt to talk on his own, and walk on his own. And because everyone was scared of him he learnt to walk without making a sound for fear of being rejected immediately and having people run away from him. His life was a lonely one and the only person who did talk to him now and then was the shaman who was busy himself and didn't have a lot of the time for him._

 _'Beware of the Woods and do not venture alone,' the shaman had warned him one day when he saw the boy stare off into the woods._

 _So the boy headed his warning until one day something caught his eye. Movement, it was like a shadow that moved rapidly from tree to tree edging closer to the camp site and then stopping. The figure would stand there looking at him but he could never see what it was and it would flit out of view whenever someone would walk by him in some capacity._

 _One day as he was left alone by the other children, Kajika walked towards the edge of the forest._

 _"Hello?" he called out, hoping that the shadowy figure would respond to him. But no one did._

 _He turned around sadly as he soon heard a slight whisper, a hiss that echoed through the woods to come and see him._

 _Kajika turned to look into the woods and saw a small shadowy figure moving again rapidly, the echoing of it's voice got harsher and louder as it drew closer to him._

 _But like the last time it stopped at the edge of the forest daring not to venture closer to the small village._

 _So Kajika moved closer to it._

 _The figure moved a bit back making the figure gasp._

 _"I'm not here to hurt you," the eight year old said._

 _And a voice of a young girl about the same age came back out in a hollowly whisper, "You are like me?" she asked._

 _"Uh, I don't think so, I am Kajika, who are you?" he asked._

 _"I'm Tadewi, it means Wind, for I am the wind that breezes by,"_

 _Kajika smiled as he venture into the forest, "Are you alone?"_

 _"Yes I am alone, my family were outcasts and then they died here in the forest and I am all alone,"_

 _Kajika felt his smile fall as he reached out to touch her making her gasp again and move rapidly backwards._

 _"I won't hurt you, I promise," he said._

 _"I've heard that before, but bad men always want to hurt me," she replied._

 _"I won't let anyone hurt you,"_

 _A sound made the two pause as Kajika looked back at the village, when Kajika looked back at the girl, Tadewi was gone._

 _Curious as to what could have caused the girl to run, Kajika crept through the forest silently and the sight that greeted him was horrifying._

 _He saw a large monstrous figure devouring a body that had been dragged away from a pile of corpses. This one was new, he could tell. The sound of the bones being crunched and the flesh being eaten was something he knew would stay with him always._

 _He decided that he'd creep away and hurry back to the tribe._

 _When he reached his hut that he shared with his mother he let out a sigh of relief as he sat down._

 _But the night wouldn't let him rest that day because no sooner had he started to doze away he heard a sound._

 _Scratch, scratch, scratch._

 _His eyes opened at that as he stayed put. Scratch, scratch, scratch._

 _And then the sound of clawed feet pattered around as whatever it was outside circled his hut. Being as brave as he could be the eight year old curled tightly together before forcing himself to fall asleep._

 _When he awoke he felt strange, something was wrong._

 _He looked around him and saw blood, blood everywhere. And then he saw something that horrified him, there, on the ground not far from him was his mother's decapitated head staring lifelessly at him, half of her face was eaten._

 _He screamed as he scrambled out of the teepee, waking those around him._

 _"Wendigo, wendigo," he heard the tribe mutter around him as everyone tried to keep their distance._

 _The shaman came closer and looked at him._

 _"Did you enter the forest?" he asked the boy._

 _"My mother, what, what happened to my mother?" Kajika asked in shock._

 _"Did YOU GO IN TO the forest?" the Shaman asked again._

 _"Yes, there was a girl there, she looked like me, and I saw a monster, it was eating someone,"_

 _The Shaman got angry as he hit the boy across the head, "You cursed soul," he said angrily._

 _"The creature followed us here too then and I blame this boy, we should have killed him at birth, that evil thing must have latched on to him," the Chief said._

 _"Kill him now, he was possessed by the Wendigo and ate his mother," one of the tribesman yelled._

 _"I didn't do anything, I swear I didn't do anything," Kajika pleaded as the tribe grabbed him and beat him._

 _"It wasn't me, I didn't do it, I swear, it wasn't me," he pleaded again in agony as the warriors dragged him away._

 _He heard the sound of digging and managed to partially see the tribe dig a hole to throw him into._

 _"To appease the spirits we will bury him in the ground," The Chief said._

 _"I didn't do anything, it was someone else, someone killed my mother,"_

 _"WENDIGO!" Everyone yelled at him._

 _"I'm not a wendigo, the creature I saw was too large to be a wendigo,"_

 _But no one listened to him._

 _"This isn't right, it's not fair," he screamed as someone hit him across the head and made him tumble into the ground._

 _As he recovered he turned to see the village begin to bury him alive._

 _"I hate you, I HATE YOU! I SHALL NEVER FORGET THIS INJUSTICE, I HATE YOU!" he screamed as the dirt finally piled on top of him and buried him before it suffocated him to death._

 _"We should have burnt him," the Shaman said, "We could kill the Wendigo with fire,"_

 _"We bury him, he is unlike any other and we have to make sure he's buried, suffocate that creature inside him and hope the spirit stays trapped with him,"_

 _The Shaman looked at the Chief._

 _"You think the spirits will help us now?" The Chief asked._

 _"They hopefully will," The Shaman said as he walked away._

 _That night however the sound was heard again._

 _Scratch, scratch, scratch. The tribe huddle with their families in their own teepees as they listened to the sound of clawed feet walking along the ground._

 _Scratch, scratch, scratch. Then they heard the sound of a slice followed by a blood curling scream before they heard something being dragged away._

 _In the morning they awoke to a horrific scene._

 _The teepees of the Shaman and the Chief were both covered with blood. A bloodied skull was found in front of the Shaman's teepee sitting on a spike._

 _One of the warriors decided to go and check out the site where hey had priorly buried the poor boy the night before. Some of the other men followed them and they were afraid, for there in the ground was a hole that looked like something had crawled out of it._

 _"You killed me and I shall have my revenge," a hollowly voice whispered through the air around them._

 _"We shall have our revenge," another voice joined the first in the same hollowly fashion._

 _"I control the monster now, one part of my revenge complete,"_

 _"He controls the monster, Revenge is his,"_

 _"The flesh he consumes, he eats, he's coming for you, scratch, scratch, scratch, the demented soul is coming for you, scratch, scratch, scratch,"_

 _The warriors trembled at the sound before they returned to the others._

 _"We must kill that beast, we have angered a spirit," one of the warriors said._

 _"Whose spirit?" one of the women asked._

 _"Kajika,"_

 _"He can't be the creature," one of the children said, "He doesn't make a sound when he walks, we've seen him do it, he said the monster made a sound so it can't be Kajika, he makes no sound,"_

 _Horrified that they wouldn't know when Kajika could come and get them the terror grew even more when they heard the sound_ _of scratching again. Scratch, scratch, scratch._

 _"In the day time, impossible," one person said. Scratch, scratch, scratch._

 _Another scream was heard as the warriors picked up their weapons._

 _They saw the monster fleeing the scene and returning to the forest._

 _Determined to kill it once and for all a handful of the warriors went to hunt the creature down. They trekked through the forest and finally found the beast in its liar._

 _"We have you beast," one of the warriors yelled as he attacked the creature, but the creature was fast and it swiped at the man and sliced him in two._

 _One of the warriors turned at the moment was confronted with glowering red eyes that spooked him, only to turn and see the true face of the monster that was killing his brothers._

 _"Shaman!" was all he could get out before the Shaman roared at him and picked him up by his head and crushed it to pieces._

 _Tadewi smirked at that as she held Kajika's hand. His hand was cold like ice. The two watched as the Shaman killed almost everyone bar one warrior._

 _Tadewi rushed towards the final man with Kajika next to her._

 _He trembled with fear as the Shaman screamed and cursed at not being able to move. The red eyes of the children of death just stayed there staring at him._

 _Kajika let go of Tadewi and walked closer to the last warrior, his red eyes boring into the man's soul._

 _"The Shaman killed Tadewi and her family because they saw his secret, and then he killed me because he thought I knew it was him, I am anger, I am Hatred, and now I exact my revenge," he hissed, "Go tell the tribe that we will always be around, always be near, my cold body evidence that I can never die, hear it now, the scratch, scratch, scratch, for I will haunt this place forever,"_

 _The Shaman growled angrily, possessed as he scratched the ground, his feet that were once hidden from view now shown to have long sharp toe nails that scraped the ground as he walked as he made the sound of scratch, scratch, scratch._

 _"He wanted to have the powers of the wendigo, but it wasn't the right place or the right tribe or the right time, he was just greedy, he felt he could devour our flesh to gain power and long life," Kajika walked up to the Shaman and smiled evilly, "And now you shall live forever Shaman, with me and my bride, Tadewi and I could have met in real life, could have mated, but you stole that from us so now I shall steal your will, you wanted to live forever and now you can, as MY SLAVE!"_

 _The warrior ran away and told the rest of the tribe what had happened. And now they all lived in fear because it was day and night when all they would ever hear was scratch, scratch, scratch as two pairs of unforgiving red eyes of the angered lost souls of children glared at them as one by one they met their doom. Scratch, scratch, scratch, and now in this forest and this place there are three souls who wonder. One driven by revenge, one driven by hatred, and one who is trapped forever. Scratch, scratch, scratch. So beware the woods, beware the sounds of the scratch because sometimes the scratch is followed by a howl and then you'll know, you'll the creature is near, because the howl is what tells you the creature is near, beware the two pair of red eyes that will stare into your soul as they decide which of the living shall be fed to their new pet demon, beware the howl that follows the scratching sound, scratch, scratch, scratch..._

Suddenly a loud sharp howling was heard as Quinn finished her tale causing almost everyone to scream loudly and run to the tent.

"I HATE YOU FABRAY!" Santana screamed as she ran followed by a screaming Tina, then Mike, and then Sam.

Rachel on the other hand was still sat with Quinn by the crackling fire place laughing so hard that by the end of it as she wiped away her tears of laughter, she patted Brittany's head and said, "Good dog,"

* * *

 **AN 2:** I hope you enjoyed that scary tale. I was on a mini roll so here's hoping I'll get the next chapter up in the time frame I want. Originally I was going to have bonding time with Rachel and Quinn; but decided that this chapter was best left to ending here. Until next time team.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN:** Here we are team, more of the crew camping.  
Also, the word is supposed to be wander not wonder when I wrote the phrase 'three souls who wonder' - that's a typo, it's supposed to be 'three souls who wander'.  
Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 17:**

The next morning the first to wake up were Brittany and Rachel.

Brittany had lifted up her head the moment Rachel sat up and stretched her arms out.

"Good morning Brittany," Rachel said as she patted the dog's head, "You sleep well?"

Brittany let out a short bark.

"Shh, not so loud, the others are still asleep," Rachel said.

Brittany didn't pay them any heed as she got up and bounded to the front of the tent and waited for Rachel to open it.

The brunette laughed quietly as she got up, stretched her arms and walked to the front of the tent and unzipped it.

The crisp fresh air hit her as did the sun's rays as she stretched her arms out again and breathed it all in. The dew was still visible on the blades of grass around her as she decided to walk around for a bit.

Brittany bounded ahead of her and ran towards the river that wasn't too far away and then bounded back slightly wet with a stick in her mouth.

"Fetch huh?" Rachel laughed as she took the stick from Brittany's mouth with her good hand. Brittany barked happily at her as she bounded away a bit and then bounced back, "Fetch!"

Rachel threw the stick as far as she could as she watched Brittany race after it.

The dog happily bounded into the water where the stick fell before she raced back out again shaking her fur violently to get rid of as much water as possible. She then ran back to Rachel and gave her the stick again. Rachel laughed as she took the stick from Brittany but the Labrador wouldn't let go.

"Oi, give me," Rachel laughed as the two engaged in a small tug and war match.

Brittany was letting out a happy growl as she fought Rachel for the stick until the brunette decided to be a little mean and let go causing the dog to stumble back a bit. Brittany pouted at that as she let out a small growl and walked up to Rachel.

"I was tired," the brunette said, "Now drop it,"

Brittany relented and dropped the stick so that Rachel could pick it up and throw it again. A sound made the two pause and look up to see an eagle fly through the air. Rachel just smiled as Brittany ran off to get the stick and come back to her. Brittany dropped the stick and sat looking up at Rachel who was still looking at the skies.

Making small grunting sounds, Brittany started pawing at Rachel's leg to get her attention.

"Yes Brittany?" Rachel asked as Brittany picked up the stick again and dropped it by her feet, "Okay, one more throw and then we'll head..."

"Good Morning," Quinn said making the two jump, "I'd say sorry but I wouldn't mean it,"

"Good Morning Quinn, sleep well?"

"Yes I did," Quinn smiled as she picked up the stick and threw it for Brittany to fetch, "You?"

"Good, though Santana really, really, was creeped out, she was hugging me incredibly tightly,"

Quinn's face faltered for a moment and Rachel wondered if she really saw a look of jealously cross the blonde's face. But she passed it off as her imagination.

"Speaking of Santana, wanna go scare her?" Quinn asked as Brittany walked up to them.

"How?" Rachel asked as Brittany dropped the stick.

"Scratch, scratch, scratch," Quinn grinned as Brittany jumped up and down at that, "You wanna go scare the fierce Latina?"

Brittany let out a short bark.

"Sshh, let's go scare the badass," Quinn said as Rachel crept with the two towards the tent, "Which side is she on again?"

Rachel pointed to the right side of the tent.

Quinn went around that way and began scratching at the side of the tent as Brittany walked the tent making a scraping sound as best as she could. They could hear the crew inside waking up.

"The hell is that?" Sam was heard asking.

"I dunno, squirrel?" Tina suggested.

Again Quinn began scratching the side of the tent three times.

"Q, if that's you, it's not funny," Santana was heard growling.

But Quinn held her ground and didn't reply as Brittany shuffled around the tent again and paused as Quinn started to scratch the side three times.

"This isn't funny," Mike started as Brittany let out a blood curling howl.

"HOLY SHIT IT'S THAT KID!" Sam yelled as Santana screamed and ran out of the tent.

Rachel and Quinn were bent over in laughter.

"Q, you're dead meat," Santana said as she gave chase and Quinn got up and started to run.

Brittany just barked at the Latina.

"YOU'RE NEXT PUPPY," Santana yelled back as she caught up to Quinn and tackled her to the ground and began slapping her arms hard enough to sting.

"Ow, ow, ow," Quinn started while still laughing.

"You bitch, that scared the crap out of me," Santana growled still slightly slapping the blonde.

"But it was f-OW!"

"You deserved it,"

"Okay, okay, sorry, get off,"

"No,"

"Off,"

"NO!"

"Brittany, a little help," Quinn yelped as the Labrador bounded over to the pair and jumped on Santana.

"Nah uh, no, you're not getting away with this Puppy," Santana started but Brittany gave her the look and licked her cheek, "You damn cheater,"

When the Unholy Trinity got back to the tent, Rachel was still laughing hard as the crew were setting up the fire place to make breakfast.

"You suck Yentl," Santana growled.

"But it was so funny Booky, you four, oh my god," Rachel laughed as Sam, Tina, and Mike gave her a small scowl that she ignored.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Santana said as she sat down next to Sam, and Quinn took a seat by Rachel. Brittany bounded over to the other side of Rachel and cuddled into the brunette.

-page break-

After breakfast and light conversation the crew decided what they wanted to do that day. Rachel wanted to go hiking to a mountain top, Tina wanted to go to the waterfall as did Mike to go swimming, Sam wanted to go with them, and Santana, well, she wanted to go to the waterfall too, though Brittany had an odd suspicion that she said because Quinn also wanted to go hiking to the mountain top with Rachel, which meant there was only one person, or dog, to decide where they wanted to go.

"You wanna go up to the mountain top with me?" Rachel asked Brittany as the dog looked between Rachel and Santana with conflict.

"It doesn't matter who you choose B, tomorrow we're all going on a long hike and we'll be together," Santana said as she looked at the Labrador.

Brittany let out a conflicted whine as she barked a bit before making up her mind that she was going to stay with Rachel as she had promised.

"Okay B, if they get too close, bark," Santana teased as Rachel laughed at her, "Otherwise, we'll meet each back here at camp at say, five p.m.,"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

-page break-

As the two groups split up, Rachel and Brittany lead Quinn on a path to the top of the mountain, or at least as close to the summit as they could get.

The trek was beautiful and Quinn was admiring the world around her as she gazed over the scores of trees.

"We're almost there Quinn," Rachel said as she kept walking and Brittany was bounding ahead of them with a happy bark now and then.

Once they reached the top spot, Quinn looked around in awe.

"Wow," Quinn breathed out, "This place is beautiful,"

"I know, I used to come here before, but I've never really had a reason to come back, not really, well, until Santana that is," Rachel said.

"You used to come here with your fathers?"

"Yeah, they were trying to groom me to be a winner so hiking was a must, but as I got older the treks became less and then it just stopped,"

"I'm sorry,"

"It's not your fault, my fathers are my fathers,"

Quinn sat down on the edge of the lookout as Rachel sat next to her. Brittany cautiously approached before finding a safe enough spot to sleep a bit.

"Oh poor Puppy," Rachel said as she took out a water bottle and a bowl, "Brittany,"

Brittany's ears perked up a bit as she spotted the water and raced to the bowl to drink.

Quinn just smiled as she looked over the view. The two spotted another eagle that flew by.

"Wow, those things are huge," Quinn commented.

"Yeah, they can be," Rachel said.

"You okay if I just lay back a bit and just reflect and relax?"

"Yeah, take your time, I'm going to use Brittany as a pillow," Rachel said, "Brittany,"

The Labrador looked at her as she walked slowly over and plonked herself down so that Rachel could use her side as a pillow.

"Thank you Brittany," Rachel smiled as she closed her eyes for a bit.

Quinn on the other hand was still tackling the issue about dating Rachel. She had been plagued with this task? Should she call it a task? For the past few months now ever since her sister made the proposal. She wanted to do it, she really did, because she wanted Frannie to love her again and she had hoped that if she showed that she was willing to do what it takes then it would be worth it.  
On the other hand, the past few months when Rachel was over at her family's house every Sunday evening, Quinn just couldn't bring herself to do it. Not at all. It wasn't until very recently too that Frannie started to ask her again why she hadn't done as she was asked and Quinn had no real answer aside from she just couldn't.

Frannie called her weak and Quinn hated that, she wasn't weak, she wasn't. But Frannie insisted that she was and that if she didn't do as she was asked then there was no point in trying anything because in Frannie's point of view, Quinn obviously didn't have what it takes to get ahead in the world.

Quinn let out a big sigh as she turned her head to look at Rachel who had fallen asleep. Brittany was asleep too. She smiled at that as she sat up and took out her phone to snap a photo of the of pair.

As she put her phone away she looked over the view again. She could see Lima in the very far distance, so far that she had to squint in order to see the city, and she liked that, she liked being so far away from the world where nothing and no one would bother her save for those who cared for her. Granted at the moment it was only Santana and Brittany as everyone else were still starting a relationship with her but she'd take what she could get.

A sound brought her out of her thoughts as she turned to look at Brittany who had woken up and was looking right at her.

"Hi B," she whispered.

Brittany cocked her head to one side.

"I'm just thinking B, nothing more to it than that," she said.

Brittany straightened her head again and looked at the blonde.

"It's about dating a girl I know," she confessed.

Brittany did the only thing that was completely human at that moment, her jaw dropped...so Santana's hunch was right. On a dog the dropped jaw looked hilarious as Quinn managed to move quick enough to snap a photo and laugh.

Her laughter woke Rachel up as Brittany just looked at her in an unamused way.

"What's so funny?" Rachel asked as she stretched.

"Good morning," Quinn said, "And this was funny,"

Rachel took Quinn's phone and looked at the picture of Brittany's dropped jaw, "Oh my god," Rachel laughed, "Brittany you look hilarious, I didn't know dogs mouths could do that,"

"I don't think they're supposed to, that one there is all human," Quinn laughed back.

Brittany was annoyed at that as she got up and tried to push her nose on the phone, wanting to delete the picture.

"No, no, no, NO," Rachel said, "This is being saved, and when we get home I would like a copy,"

"Done," Quinn said as Brittany let out a groan and lay down with her paws over her eyes in embarrassment.

"Oh poor puppy," Rachel said as she ruffled Brittany's fur, "What'd you say to her to make her do that anyway?"

"Uh, I uh, um," Quinn started then said, "Wastalkingaboutdating a girl,"

"You were talking about doing a girl?"

Brittany started laughing in her own dog way at that as Quinn turned completely red.

"Was that what you were in conflict over for the past few months?" Rachel asked.

"Uh, I, uh," Quinn stuttered still completely red from embarrassment.

"Oh Quinn it's nothing to be embarrassed about,"

"I'm not supposed to like girls,"

"Why?"

"Because, I just, because,"

"May I ask how you came to this realisation that you may in fact like girls?"

"It wasn't..., I just, I, I was thinking about it that's all, I don't know, I've never thought about it before this year and it only became a larger thought in my brain since Santana talked about it,"

"It's okay Quinn, I myself am pansexual, took a bit too for me to realise that I was, but I eventually did realise it,"

"Pansexual? Um, does that mean you love inanimate objects especially pans?"

Rachel just laughed at that, "No, it means that I don't look at a person's gender or sexual identity, I just see the person for who they are and if they click with me, so to speak, I'd consider them a partner, I love the person basically,"

"Oh, so I have to ask, what's the difference then between pansexual and bisexual?"

"Bisexuals are attracted to men and women, pansexuals are attracted to the person for who they are without regard of what gender identity they are, what sexual orientation they are, or what biological sex they were when they were born, they just see the person,"

"Um, What do you mean by gender identity?"

"Basically what a person identifies as, so for example, a person could be born biologically a male but identify as female as their gender, so if they choose to make that step in life and go from male to female I would have no problem with that because at the end of the day they are still the same person I knew yesterday, same as if I met a person who identifies as neither male or female so they use gender neutral terms such as 'they' or 'them',"

"Oh, okay, I think I get it,"

"Sorry, it's a little jargony when you first hear about it,"

"But it's good to learn about it right?"

"Yes, I feel that's important to know these things,"

The two paused for a moment before Rachel asked, "So, who was this girl you were thinking about doing?"

"RACHEL!" Quinn screeched as Brittany barked at her in an annoyed tone, "Sorry Brittany,"

Rachel laughed before saying, "So, who is she? The girl you want to date?"

Quinn just turned red as Brittany decided to just spill it for her, after all she was currently a dog; she couldn't be held responsible for what she was going to reveal for the blonde. She had to do her doggy duty of nudging people the right way anyway, it was in the dog code. Especially if she felt that two people would click well together.

Brittany went over to Rachel and looked at her.

"Brittany, why are you staring at me?" Rachel asked.

"Brittany?" Quinn started but Brittany looked from Quinn and back to Rachel and then at Quinn again and then back to Rachel.

"Brittany, if you're going to suggest something that ridiculous then you should drop it," Rachel said in an annoyed tone.

"What is she suggesting?"

"That you apparently are interested in doing me, as if,"

Quinn just paused and blushed.

"Oh come on, really? Me? You have got to be kidding," Rachel started as Brittany stayed looking at Rachel and Quinn looked away blushing, "You're joking right?"

"And if I'm not?" Quinn asked.

"No way, this has got to be a joke, Quinn have you seen me in the mirror? Why would you go for someone like me anyway?"

"Because you're a nice person,"

"Quinn I'm a hideous looking human being and the only reason people leave me alone is because Booky told me that since I turned all Jekyll and Hyde on Karofsky people are scared to make me mad,"

"They just don't see you, okay," Quinn snapped, "They don't see what a good heart you have and that's their damn loss,"

Rachel went quiet for a moment as Brittany snuggled into the brunette's chest to comfort her for a bit.

"Look I know that this is out of the blue okay, and I know that I'm just trying to figure myself out, but I just, I don't know okay Rachel, it's just that," Quinn confessed.

"And if you were to date me, what would the conditions be? Hide it?" Rachel asked.

"From my parents, yeah, I mean they're great and all but I've never heard them talk about gay people at all, AND, my church isn't that supportive on the matter, so I just, I don't know, not them, at school I have a monopoly where no one can tell on me for fear of what I'd unleash but I just, I'm...sorry, I, just forget that I said anything,"

The two were quiet for a moment before Quinn plucked up the courage again and asked, "So, would you consider going out with me?"

Rachel just looked at her.

* * *

 **AN 2:** Dun, dun, duuuuuuun. Rachel's answer will be in the next chapter but whatever her answer is going to be, most of you will probably guess it right. Lol. Until next time team.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:** For some odd reason Chapter 17 (the prior chapter) didn't send through an email alert as it normally does to those who follow this story - at least for me it didn't show up in usual style to say 'Yep, new chapter'. So if you haven't read Chapter 17 yet then please do so - otherwise this part may seem a bit huh? for some. Also, reviews are doing the odd thing again, I got email alerts for some and others nope. So if I haven't replied with a thank you I do apologise for that. As I always say, I do appreciate those reviews because you took the time to write them. So thank you.

Anyway, as always, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 18:**

Rachel could do nothing but blink at that particular moment. She was stunned. A girl wanted to date her, flag that, a really REALLY pretty girl wanted to date her, Quinn wanted to date her. The 'oh my god' factor was still running through her mind at that.

"Sorry, it's awkward, I'm sorry," Quinn started.

"No, I'm just, surprised," Rachel said, "I mean, it's not like you liked me before,"

"I also didn't really know you for you before,"

"Um, I, well, this is, um,"

"Sorry,"

"I'm just surprised, I mean me? Why me?"

"I can't answer that," Quinn said truthfully, though the context of her statement wouldn't be known to Rachel.

"Ah,"

The two still sat closely together in an awkward silence as Brittany looked from one person another as the tension between them grew.

When it was at least five tension filled minutes later, the Labrador got annoyed of nothing happening, so Brittany decided to use her doggy abilities to their full potential as she walked up behind Quinn and jumped onto her back, pushing her really hard so that the blonde's lips would make contact with Rachel. Only one way to find out how you may feel about someone in her opinion. Besides the tension was annoying her, she had to be honest on the front.

Luckily it seemed like neither girl actually seemed to care as Quinn kissed Rachel's lips softly before she deepened it as a jolt ran through her body and surprising her. Soft, kissing Rachel felt soft, and she really liked it.

Brittany had a smug look on her face.

"Uh, oh my god, I'm so sorry," Quinn gaped as she pulled away rapidly, "Oh god, awkward, I'm sorry, I blame Brittany,"

Rachel just looked stunned for a moment.

"But I won't say I didn't like it," Quinn added quietly.

Rachel on the other hand just shot a glare at Brittany but the dog pretended not to notice as she was somehow fixated on chasing her tail.

"Brittany, when you're human again I'm going to kick your ass," Rachel said in an incredibly annoyed tone as Brittany just gave her a look, "I don't care if you felt that we should just kiss to see what it was like, you took away our first kiss, we can't take that back no matter what we decide,"

Brittany just kept looking at her.

"I don't care if the view was perfect and the moment felt perfect to you," Rachel continued, "It would have been something for us to decide not for you to try and use your doggy charm to set us up, that was not cool,"

Brittany just looked at her unfaltering.

"Evil dog," Rachel grumbled, "No kibble for you,"

Brittany pouted at that, she liked that kibble. She whined as she crawled up to Rachel's side and leaned her head on her legs.

"No, no kibble, Brittany there are limits and a kiss is a big deal for someone like me and you took that away," Rachel chastised, "I know that the human part of you is there too and that wasn't fair Brittany,"

Okay, she had a point and now in hindsight and the prospect of having no kibble as well as having her friend really angry with her, Brittany actually started feeling a little bad about forcing the two to just kiss. Still...

"Funny dog," Quinn said seemingly unphased as she got part of her decorum back, "So, I, uh, I um, will you go out with me?"

"I don't know Quinn, it seems kind of..." Rachel started.

"We don't have to kiss, and we don't have to rush it, we can take it slow,"

Rachel thought for a moment before saying, "How about you take me out once a week, it can't be a Saturday as that's Berry Men Crew time, Friday we possibly could as Santana comes over to hang out with Brittany more than she does with me, Sunday we can't because I'm with your family all day and you don't want them to know just yet,"

"Friday evening sounds good to me, what would you like to do?"

"I don't like going out so much, people still stare at me and while it's okay at times because I'm used to it, I still rather not,"

"Why not send Brittany and Santana somewhere and we can just hang at your place?"

"One hour for the first month,"

"That's it?"

"Yeah, I did that with Santana, it's just to test out the waters,"

"I'll take that, what about school?"

"I don't know, just be there for me I guess, I don't mind if you don't want to hug or hold hands or anything, I mean, image,"

"I don't give a rats ass about that,"

"You don't?"

"Not recently,"

Rachel thought for a moment. A part of her gut felt that something was up bit she wanted to ignore it for now, she wanted to have hope that perhaps the girl sitting right next to her was genuine about what they were going to do. She had to hope because hope was all she had left. Maybe Quinn was changing for the better. Sure she'd be disappointed if it didn't work out but in the end at least they'd know.

"How about we trial this for a month, if by the end of the month we both decide that no this isn't going to work can we at least stay friends?" Rachel asked.

"Of course, I don't think I'd ever want to lose your friendship regardless," Quinn answered as Rachel smiled at that.

"Okay, so uh, what are we calling ourselves?"

"Girlfriends because that's what we are right?"

Brittany barked happily at that as she bounced from side to side. This was a good thing for Rachel, very good, because now she may have someone who could genuinely love her and perhaps break the spell.  
And if Quinn was lying, well, Brittany resolved that friend or not she was going to bite Quinn's ass literally.

-page break-

As the two walked back down towards the camp the talk that transpired was more on a general term. They talked about almost everything and anything that crossed each others minds and if they were asked to recall it they wouldn't be able to.

"Hey, hey, you two, we thought you got lost," Santana said as she waved them over, "Hurry up, dinner's almost done,"

Brittany bounded over to Santana quickly and cuddled into the Latina.

"Hey Puppy, how are you?" Santana asked as Brittany, tongue out, barked at her happily, "I'm good that you're happy, so, what happened on the trail? Anything juicy to report?"

Brittany barked again as she raced out of Santana's arms and ran around Rachel and Quinn quickly before running back.

"Huh?" Santana asked as Brittany huffed and barked again before looking at both Rachel and Quinn, "Hmmm, are you telling me those two talked things through?"

Brittany cocked her head a bit.

"I'm taking that as a no," Santana said, "Oi, you two, what happened? Spill it,"

"What happened with what Booky?" Rachel asked as she and Quinn down next to each other by the fire place.

"Puppy is very mysterious about what went down,"

Brittany just huffed at that, she wasn't being mysterious, she thought she was being very obvious about what happened thank you very much.

"Well, uh, Quinn and I..." Rachel started.

"Enigma," Sam said as everyone looked at him.

"Huh?" Santana asked.

"That's her nickname, Enigma, because she's mystery, and she can be a puzzling or contradictory person to try and figure out,"

"I don't know whether to be insulted or not," Quinn muttered.

"C'mon Q, everyone has a nickname, I mean Brittany has a nickname already," Santana said.

"And what is her nickname? Bounder?"

"Nope, it's Puppy,"

"Huh, it so is," Rachel said in an amused tone as everyone looked at her, "Think about it, we've all been calling her Puppy for the better part of a month, her name is so Puppy, but I still think Enigma is a neat name,"

Quinn just looked at Rachel who gave her a look and she melted internally.

"Name stays," Santana grinned, "So, you two swapping lady kisses now are you?"

"Pwah, as if, Brittany took away our first kiss by pushing Quinn into me," Rachel said as Quinn looked at her.

"Rachel!" she started.

"Oh Enigma it doesn't matter, Santana would have figured it incredibly quickly, and the other three would have noticed eventually,"

"I know, but I was kinda hoping we'd say it together,"

"Ah, sorry,"

"It doesn't matter," Santana butted in, "We knows and yes we'll be quiet about it especially with the 'rents,"

"How'd you..." Quinn started.

"It's you Eni, I knows you,"

"I, fair enough,"

"So, cute couple, what shall we name you?"

Brittany had a very good idea on that one as she barked loudly.

"What do you reckon Puppy?" Santana asked.

Brittany kept barking and trying to get her words out but couldn't. Sam finally had an idea, "Hey Puppy, what if I said the alphabet and you barked at the letters you want me to spell?" he asked, Brittany liked that idea so she barked at him.

So the slow process started, "A, B, C, D, E, F," Sam started as Brittany barking at him, "Okay, F,"

He wrote that down, "A," Bark.

"A, B," Bark.

"A, B, C, D, E," Bark.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R," Bark.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R," Bark.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y," Bark.

Sam looked at his paper and went, "You want to call those two Faberry? What's that?" he asked.

"It's Fabray and Berry together," Santana said, "Clever Puppy,"

Brittany just a smug look on her face as Quinn looked at Rachel and the brunette just shrugged.

"Good, we have a nickname for you two, but let me just say one thing," Santana started as she looked strongly at Quinn, "You hurt her in any way and I will ends you,"

"Okay," Quinn said, "So, aren't you going to say that to her?"

"I don't have to, Yentl wouldn't do anything to hurt you and I knows it for a fact,"

"Oh, true,"

* * *

That night around the campfire, Rachel and Quinn were huddled talking together as Mike, Sam, and Tina were discussing a potential new movie that Santana had no interest in. Luckily for her, Brittany was sitting next to her.

Santana sighed as she looked at the dog, "Puppy," she started as Brittany lifted her head to look at her, "Keep an eye out on Q okay, I don't know some thing just isn't, I don't, I want to believe her B, I really do, but I am scared that Yentl's going to get hurt, Q hasn't got the best history when it comes to having partners,"

Brittany gave her a look, to be fair, Quinn only had one boyfriend.

"I know she only had one boyfriend B, but I just, my Mexican Third Eye is telling me something is up, but I don't want to doubt Q, just keep an eye out okay?"

Brittany just nodded her head at that.

"Good," Santana said as she reached out and scratched Brittany's head.

Brittany liked that sensation as she leaned more into the Latina so she could be scratched more.

"So, it's getting late, what say you all to another ghost story? Enigma? Wanna do the honours?" Sam asked as everyone paused.

"I may have a couple to tell," Quinn said as Santana yelped and then screamed.

"NOOOOO!" Santana screamed as she ran to the tents as quickly as she could, Brittany in tow this time, barking in amusement.

Rachel could do nothing but laugh at this.

* * *

 **AN 2:** Okay all, short and sweet. And yes, Brittany is a silly puppy. Next chapter will be the last of the camping trip as I'd like to get on with the school part. Until next time team.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN:** For those sensitive about harm that comes to any type of animal, please be weary as this chapter and the next will be dealing with trapped animals and such.

* * *

 **Chapter 19:**

The following day Brittany was the first to wake as she went to the front door of the tent and pawed at it in hopes that someone would wake up. Luckily for her Sam had to get up to go to the bathroom.

"Hey Puppy," he whispered as he opened the door and let her run out first before going somewhere in the woods himself.

When he came back to the camp site, Brittany was already zooming around the fire place and running to the river side and then back up again.

"Oi, Puppy," Sam whistled as the Labrador came running to him, "Don't run off too far,"

Brittany just looked up at him happily as he scratched her head before patting her side.

He smiled at her before he started preparing breakfast for everyone as Brittany kept trying to steal pieces of bacon.

"Oi, no Puppy, we must cook this first," he said with a small laugh.

Brittany just barked happily as she raced around Sam and the fire place before bringing him a stick to throw.

Sam just obliged with a smile as he picked up the the stick and tossed it away for her to catch before she raced back happily with the stick in her mouth.

"Good morning," Rachel said as Sam looked up at her with a grin.

"Good morning Mrs Fabray, how are you?"

"I'm NOT a Mrs anything Mr Evans and you damn well know it," Rachel said sternly as she looked at him.

"But I hope that one day you two will be Mrs's, some good chemistry there, I can feel it,"

"You think?"

"Yeah,"

"You okay with this whole I'm gay for Fabray thing if it actually works out?"

"Hey, she's gay and she prays, I'm over it, besides, love is love to me,"

"Thanks Trouty,"

"I will say this though," Sam said as he brought the wooden spoon out of the oatmeal pot he was stirring at the same time as making bacon and pointed it at her, "If she breaks your heart, I will break her neck,"

"You don't mean that,"

"But I do, you deserve all the love in the world and if this is just one of her tricks, God help her, literally,"

Rachel smiled at that, "Thanks for looking out for me, but if this all does turn out to be some trick, you'll have to beat Puppy and Booky to the 'I Kill Quinn' line,"

"Hmmm," Sam said as Brittany dropped the stick by Rachel's feet.

"Good morning Brittany," Rachel said as she picked up the stick and threw it for her to fetch.

Brittany happily ran after the stick and picked it up and ran back to the pair.

"Hello, I thought you'd be back in the tent snuggling with your new honey," Tina teased as she came and sat down at the fire place.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, she held me tight last night actually," Rachel admitted, "Seems that when Booky is too close to me she gets all possessive like, I felt it last night, it was amusing,"

"I bet,"

"What are you three talking about?" Mike asked as he sat down by the crew, "And good morning,"

Brittany came bounding over to him as she dropped the stick by his feet so that he would pick it up and throw it.

"Fetch," Mike said as he threw as hard as he could and Brittany barked happily as she raced after it.

"Wow she's happy," Quinn said as she came and sat down with the crew, "And good morning everyone,"

"Morning," the crew said to her at almost the same time.

"Santana not up yet?"

"Nope," Rachel said, "And no, we're not pranking her today,"

"Good," Santana said as she plonked herself down with the crew, "I would have been bitchy the entire walk had you done that,"

"I have no doubt about that," Rachel smiled as Sam began handing out breakfast to everyone.

Brittany just stole her breakfast from Mike.

"Brittany! That was my bacon," Mike said in annoyance as Brittany happily trotted away.

Tina patted Mike's back and him some of hers with a hidden laughter etched onto her face.

-page break-

Soon the crew were done with breakfast and after cleaning up around them they zipped up their tent and were on their way for a nice walk.

"There's this really nice old track," Santana said, "We should hopefully see some wildlife out here, though if it's a bear I'm leaving you all behind"

"I can out run you," Rachel said, "I know that for a fact, so my butt is safe,"

"So who would be the slowest here?" Sam asked.

Everyone turned to look at Tina.

"Shut up," Tina grumbled, "I don't like running,"

"Oh good," Santana teased, "The bear can eat you first,"

Everyone laughed at that as Tina grumbled the words, "I hate trekking,"

"But I'm glad you came for this trip," Rachel smiled as Tina just smiled back at her, "So, let's go,"

-page break-

The walk itself was lovely, the crew mainly stuck close to the river side so that they'd know their way back as they climbed up and down the track and enjoyed the smell of the woods and the trees.

The only animal that was provided for them that day were a few species of bird, if you didn't count the dog that was currently chasing after them and trying to jump up the trees while barking loudly at them.

The crew had laughed at this as Brittany kept bounding ahead and running back every time Rachel called out for her.

Some gun fire was heard in the distance as Rachel cringed.

"You okay Yentl?" Santana asked before Quinn could.

"Yeah, I just don't like hunters very much, a lot of them don't even eat what they kill and that irks me a lot," Rachel said.

"A lot of them trap animals too," Quinn said before she confessed, "I used to go hunting with my grandpa before he passed,"

Rachel made a face at that.

"I didn't eat what we killed but my grandpa did, just to be clear, he had a firm policy of you eat what you kill and that included fishing as well, that I never could stomach doing to be honest," Quinn continued, "But he despised trapping, said something about it being bad for any animal that runs along the path, kinda odd when he killed them but I tell you what I stopped going with him after I saw my first animal being trapped, I just, I couldn't,"

"Oh yeah, I remember you telling me about that," Santana said, "You were crying so badly there,"

"Please don't describe what you saw, "Rachel begged.

"We won't," Quinn said as she stood near Rachel and took her hand slowly and in a comforting way, "I was just saying we need to be careful of animal traps and so, I mean if we hear gun fire then it's obviously hunting season for some of these people,"

Rachel just nodded her head at that.

The crew kept walking as Sam soon declared, "I'm freaking hungry, I wanna eat,"

"Me too," Mike said, "And we should play toss the ball,"

"Sounds good to me," Santana said.

"I think I'll just sit and talk with Yentl," Tina said.

"Me too," Quinn said.

Brittany was just barking excitedly at Sam the moment she heard the words 'toss the ball', as she was jumping at his pack because she knew the ball was in there.

"Okay, okay, you can play ball too," Sam laughed.

The crew soon found a nice clearing close to the river edge where they could all sit and eat before Sam and Mike got up to throw the football that Sam had brought along as Brittany chased between them to get said ball.

"I'm jumping in the river," Mike said as he stripped and jumped in and spluttered at the coldness before continuing to swim.

Rachel wolf whistled along with Tina and Quinn as the three girls laughed. Santana just shook her head in amusement.

"Hey, hey, my turn," Sam said as he stripped down to his swim gear and posed for the girls who all whistled at him, well, save Santana.

"It's like they were prepared to go swimming," Rachel laughed.

"Did you bring your swim gear?" Quinn asked.

"No, I'm not really comfortable in them,"

"You're amongst friends Rachel, you don't have to worry about anything with us,"

Rachel just smiled at Quinn as Tina 'awed' on the inside.

"I didn't bring mine either," Tina said, "I just don't like swimming,"

The three just laughed a bit then realised Santana hadn't said anything yet.

"Where is Booky...what the hell is she doing?" Tina yelped.

"Ah, welcome to Booky's 'I don't give a crap who see's' side," Quinn laughed as she wolf whistled at Santana who was in her underwear.

"SHUT UP FABRAY, LEAST I GOTS A BOD TO SHOW OFF," Santana yelled back as Brittany ran up to the Latina and jumped at her, front paws hitting her boobs, "Oi B, hands off, I mean paws off,"

Brittany just barked with a smug as she ran around and tried to catch the ball that was thrown at Santana who caught it and threw it back.

"Damn, what an arm," Sam said in amazement at Santana's ability to throw a football.

As the three were playing catch with the ball with Brittany running between them, Rachel looked at Quinn and said, "So, wolf whistling at other girls now are we?"

"Huh?" Quinn asked in confusion before realising what she did, "Oh, oh god, sorry, Rachel, sorry, I didn't do it to hurt you or to say that I'm interested in Booky, ew, sorry, we used to tease each other like this all the time and it's become a habit, sorry,"

"Aww, she's so adorable when flustered," Tina laughed, "You should keep her,"

Rachel laughed at that as she stroked the side of Quinn's hair, "It's okay Quinn, I get it, you can stop apologising now, to be fair, I did wolf whistle at Sam and Mike,"

"Okay, uh, still, sorry," Quinn swallowed as she looked back at the crew, "You guys wanna go play catch with them? I'm sure they have spare towels and I don't mind getting wet, it'll be fun,"

Rachel looked over at the four playing then back at Quinn before looking at Tina who sighed.

"We probably should, we'll regret not doing so when we get back at camp and you know it," Tina said as she got up, "C'mon Rachel, if I'm getting wet, you're getting wet, let's go,"

Rachel also sighed as she got up, "I cave, let's go play,"

-page break-

In the end Rachel was very glad that she decided to play with the rest of the crew as they all laughed and splashed in the water. Brittany too was having the time of her life as she ran around splashing through the water and barking at the birds that were nearby.

Eventually though they were all starting to feel tired so they decided to dry up and make their way back to camp.

"That was a fun day," Rachel smiled as Quinn smiled back and held her hand.

"Yes it was, although seeing Mike being toppled over by Brittany is hilarious," Quinn said.

"It wasn't funny," Mike huffed as Brittany looked up at him with a semi laugh etched on her doggy face, "It wasn't, why always me?"

"Like I said Rubber Band, you're the comic in this group and Brittany loves teasing you," Sam laughed as Mike huffed a bit.

"You have to show her that you're the boss and alpha over her," Rachel suggested, "I mean she is part dog at the moment, you gotta show her that you can't be pushed around,"

Mike looked down at Brittany who looked back up at him with a look on her face, "Yeah, fat chance of that happening," he muttered as Brittany just barked happily at that as she raced ahead of the crew again.

"Brittany don't go too far," Rachel said as the dog just barked happily.

"She's like a child sometimes," Santana said with a grin.

As the crew kept walking Rachel became a bit worried, "Guys, why's Brittany not coming back?" she asked.

"I don't know," Santana said with worry, "Brittany?"

The crew started calling out for the Labrador but there was no answer and no bark.

"I'll run ahead," Sam said as he ran ahead of the group, "BRITTANY?"

"I'll go with him, two sets of eyes are better and all," Mike said as he ran ahead too, "PUPPY? WHERE ARE YOU?"

As the boys ran ahead, Santana decided to join them. Something wasn't right, no, no, something wasn't right. And it worried her.

"Something's wrong," Santana said, "I feel it,"

She raced ahead as the other three ran after her.

"B!" Santana yelled, "WHERE ARE YOU BABY?"

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Sam was heard yelling incredibly loudly.

"OH SHIT!" Mike was heard just after him as eventually Santana could hear a very faint whining sound.

"Oh my god, where is she?" Santana panted as she ran even faster with Tina, Rachel, and Quinn trailing just behind her, "B?!"

When the girls got to where the boys were Santana screamed.

"Oh my god," Quinn gasped as Tina couldn't say anything but gasp.

"Oh my god, there's blood and fur every where, oh god," Mike said looking like he wanted to hurl.

"Those traps are illegal, what the hell is doing out here?" Sam asked in a stressed voice.

All Rachel could do after that was just scream.

* * *

 **AN 2:** Yes, I'm going to be a terrible and mean person and stopping it there. But I am on a small roll so hopefully the next chapter isn't too far away. Until next time.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:** Again, for those sensitive about harm that comes to any type of animal, please be weary as this chapter will be dealing with trapped animals and such. I also don't know any veterinarian terms, so please bear with me.

Also, it seems that Chapter 17 is now up for this story...LOL, I just got an email alert telling me that plus I think ALL of the review alerts popped up again that didn't show up a while ago. Oh good times.

Again, on a serious note, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 20:**

"Oh god, Brittany," Rachel said as she tried to move closer to the dog but couldn't as Santana was in the way and she wanted to be careful of the brush and not trip over and accidentally land on the trapped dog.

Brittany just whined in agony as she tried to escape from the trap she was caught in as well as move away from the trap that was right next to her.

"B, baby, don't move okay," Santana said as she edge a bit closer trying hard not to look at the blood and fur of the dead fox that was in the trap next to Brittany. it seemed that Brittany had gotten curious about a smell she had never smelt before and she had trotted towards it, but upon seeing the dead fox in the illegal spring trap, Brittany had tried to move away only to have her muzzle and left front leg caught in a trap that was also laid out not too far away.

"God, are traps like those even allowed?" Rachel asked as she tried to look away from the mess that was once a fox and looked at her best friend caught in the other trap.

"Well, traps like what Puppy is caught in are allowed," Sam started, "But the one that killed that fox, hell no, that's just, no,"

"Look, not meaning to sound terrible but the fox is dead, can we focus on helping Brittany please," Santana said in a strained voice.

"Yeah," Sam said, "Puppy, don't move okay,"

Brittany couldn't help it though, her leg and muzzle were trapped and she was in agony and the smell of the poor dead fox was scaring her quiet a bit as she wanted to edge away. But every time she did the trap put a lot of pressure on her that it hurt a lot.

"Fucking hell," Mike said as he moved around trying to figure out what to do.

"Hey Mike, can you take photos of Brittany in the trap and of the fox over there?" Sam asked as everyone looked at him, "It's so we can report this to the rangers, we walked down this trail earlier and the traps weren't here, the fact that they put this in the path of where people walk as well as where they walk with their pets is very dangerous and also illegal, so we need to prove it,"

Mike just nodded his head as he held his stomach in and started to get pictures as Sam moved closer to Brittany and started examining the trap and trying to figure out how to get the dog out.

"How do we get her out?" Rachel asked as Quinn stood behind her and put comforting hands on her shoulders.

"Hang on, hang on," Sam said as he continued to try and find a way, "Well, luckily for Brittany this trap is just for trapping animals and not killing them or she'd have very broken limbs,"

"Can you get her out?"

"Yeah, Booky, can you cover her eyes and hold her down please? I know she's human but I honestly don't want her to bite me when the dog part of her gets scared,"

"Sure," Santana said as she did as asked.

Brittany didn't like this as she could smell Santana's top covering her face the best she could before the Latina's hands started to hold her firmly. She started to squirm again.

"Hey B, calm down, it's okay, it's okay," Santana said in a soothing voice as Brittany whimpered, "I know it hurts, I know, but we'll get you out, okay Baby,"

Brittany tried to stay calm as she felt Sam fiddle with the trap carefully as he moved the spring and loosened what he could.

"Dang this is difficult," he muttered as he kept moving and fiddling.

"Shouldn't there be instructions on how to release the trap?" Quinn asked.

"There is, but one I'm dyslexic so I can't read too well," Sam said, "And two, the instructions are faded, otherwise I would have asked one of you to read it,"

"Sorry," Quinn said feeling a little bad that she pointed that out a bit late.

"It's all good," Sam said as he kept loosening the things he could before carefully pulling Brittany's leg out first and then her muzzle.

When she was free, the Labrador was tempted to run away quickly but she couldn't as the pain shot through her body making her whimper and whine even more as Santana took the top off her face and held her close.

"We need to take her to a vet," Rachel said.

"And after that we need to report these trap to the rangers," Sam said as he stood up and held the trap up in his hands, "We should take this one with us,"

Everyone nodded their heads.

"I think it's safe to say that the camping trip is over," Rachel said, "I want to get Puppy home after the vets,"

"Hmm," Sam said, "Booky, I guess you can stay with Puppy by the car as we all pack up, she's calmer with you, I think,"

"We'd move faster if Yentl is with her, after all, Puppy is her dog," Santana said as everyone nodded their heads, "Hey Trouty, can you please come help me carry her?"

Sam went over to pick Brittany up but the dog started barking and lashing out at him.

"Hey, B, stop it," Santana said sternly as the dog just whined again and barked and howled, "B, stop, stop, Stop, you're going to strain yourself and I'm sure Trouty here was just going to pick you up so he could help carry you to the car, so stop it, calm down,"

Brittany did as she was told as Sam approached her again and picked her and carried her back to Santana's car.

-page break-

Back at the camp, the crew packed up relatively quickly and made sure that all their things were taken with them and that the area that they were using was clean and tidy.

Brittany was sat in Santana's car with Rachel as everyone started to gather around the car to discuss what they were going to do next.

Quinn slammed the boot of her car down as she looked at everyone and asked, "So, who's in which car?"

"I want to go with Booky to the vets," Rachel said.

"I'll go with you," Tina added as she looked at the other girl.

"I think Eni, Rubber, and I should go to the Rangers," Sam said, "We'll meet back at yours if that's okay Yentl?"

"Yeah, sounds good, keep in touch," Rachel said as everyone nodded their heads at that.

Everyone soon got into their respective cars and they all drove away.

* * *

The vets was not a fun place either. When Santana parked the car Brittany started getting agitated again. Even as a human the dog didn't like going to the doctors at all because of a very bad experience when she was four, so now that she could smell everything it just made it worse for her.

"B, it'll be okay," Santana said as she carefully tried to pick Brittany up, "I'm going to need help with this,"

Rachel came over and picked Brittany up instead with ease.

"Holy hell, how'd you pick her up?" Santana asked, "Last person who managed to pick her up while she was fidgeting was Karofsky and I still think he was hopped up on 'roids or something to do that, I mean Trouty barely was able to carry her and had to have Mike help him now and then,"

"I don't know, ever since I snapped at Karofsky I've had this strength that I never used to, it's handy to have," Rachel said Santana locked the car and the three girls walked into the vet clinic.

"Why didn't we just get you to carry her?" Santana muttered.

"I was also feeling stressed and I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry, I was just worried, I'm a lot calmer now that we're at the vets and she can be looked after,"

"I guess," Santana said as Tina opened the door for the crew.

When they got to the reception, Santana spoke with the receptionist as Tina and Rachel sat down.

The Latina began filling out for the paper work as the three waited for one of the vets to come and get them.

"Bounder?" a vet called out after some time.

"That's us," Rachel said as she got up.

The three girls walked into the clinic room and Rachel put Brittany on the examining table.

"So tell me what happened?" the vet asked as he looked ta the girls.

"We were out camping and as we were walking back to the camp, Bounder stepped on to a trap and it caught her muzzle and left front leg," Rachel said as Tina pulled out her phone and showed the vet the pictures that Mike had taken and sent to her.

"Oh dear, damn trappers," he muttered, "At least it wasn't one that was designed to kill, so I'll just take some x-rays of her and we'll see if there's any bone damage,"

The girls just nodded their heads.

After the examination was done Brittany was now lying down on the table and feeling drowsy.

When the vet walked in she whimpered again as Rachel patted her side softly and stroked the top of her head to try and calm her down.

"Well, she is one lucky Puppy," the vet said as he looked over the charts, "No fractures, nothing is broken, but she does have some bruising which you may need to be aware of, otherwise physically she's fine, psychologically, she may suffer a bit of trauma so if it does get bad please contact us, she's young so hopefully she'll bounce back pretty quickly,"

Rachel nodded her head as the vet gave her some information for her to look over. Tina took them from the brunette and put them in her bag as Rachel picked up a very scared Brittany and carried her back to the car.

"Well, at least she's okay," Santana said as she kissed the tip of the dog's nose, "I'm glad, shall we head back to yours?"

"Yeah," Rachel said, "I want to get her bathed and then she needs to sleep,"

Brittany yelped and barked at that.

"Brittany, stop it, it's just a small shower okay, stop it," Rachel said annoyed as she put the dog in the car.

Brittany just looked at her still barking and yelping.

"Booky will stay the night with us, of that I'm sure," Rachel said as she looked the Labrador strongly. Brittany stopped at that as she let out a small huff before laying her head down on Rachel's lap and going to sleep.

"Poor Puppy," Tina sighed as she looked back at the pair in the back seat.

Rachel just nodded her head as she stroked the top of Brittany's head.

"How old is Puppy anyway?" Tina asked, as Santana got in to the car and started driving them all back to Lima Heights, "I mean in human years she's sixteen, but in dog years...?"

"She's two," Santana said as she turned down a side street, "Or around two,"

"Wow, you calculated that quickly," Tina said.

"I uh, may or may not be quite good at Maths actually,"

"Huh, a bookworm AND a Mathematician," Rachel giggled a bit as she smiled at the Latina, "You never fail to amaze me Booky, you planning on ever using those skills of yours?"

Santana turned red a bit.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed Booky, I think it's great," Rachel said, "So, any plans?"

"Not concretely, but I was thinking either being a Vet or going into Sports Medicine or something like that,"

"Wow, different, here I thought you'd want to go into acting or something,"

"That world? Nah, it's too harsh and bitchy even for me, I like my privacy,"

"Didn't seem that way when you stripped in front of us," Tina quipped playfully.

"I was amongst friends, I don't care if I show off among my friends," Santana said as she parked outside of Rachel's apartment, "Right, Gothika and I will get the stuff out, Yentl, you can go bathe Puppy,"

"You sure you don't want my help to get stuff in first?" Rachel asked.

"Nah, we should be fine," Santana said.

"Okay then," Rachel said as she picked Brittany up.

But the Labrador was starting to feel better as she wiggled out of Rachel's grasp making the brunette gasp in shock and worry as Brittany landed on the ground on all fours.

"Puppy, don't do that," Rachel said as Brittany looked at her while wagging her tail slowly from side to side. She was feeling much better and was glad to be home now.

"You wanna walk?" Rachel asked as Brittany let out a short bark and nodded her head, "Okay, but take it slow okay, and stay close,"

Brittany did as told as she walked slowly to the apartment before walking ahead of Rachel when the brunette opened up the front door of their apartment.

"Puppy?" Rachel started then realised that Brittany had walked to the bathroom and waited to be bathed, "You must be tired,"

Once the brunette had put her things away she went to wash the poor tired dog, this time there were no suds flying everywhere and there was no chase around the house. Brittany just stayed still and waited until Rachel finished cleaning her.

When the brunette was done drying the now clean Labrador, she looked at her and said, "There you go, good as new,"

Brittany shook herself a little bit and walked out to go to the living room, Rachel gave the retreating dog a small smile before saying to herself, "I should probably shower now,"

"We're done," Santana called out as she saw Brittany make her way towards her before she jumped on the couch and waited for Tina and Santana to sit down and join her.

"Me too," Rachel said back, "Make yourselves at home, I'm going to shower now,"

"I want it after you,"

"Okay,"

"Me too," Tina called out.

"It's all yours after Santana," Rachel said back as the other two girls settled on the couch and turned on the television and waited their turn.

* * *

It was almost seven p.m. by the time Quinn, Sam, and Mike arrived at Rachel's place.

Rachel and Santana were making dinner for everyone together and just chatting as the other three took turns to have a shower.

When everyone were all done and clean, and dinner was ready, they all sat together in the living room and chatted. Rachel was keen on knowing what was going to be done about the trappers and what the rangers said about the illegal one.

"So, what did the rangers say?" she asked as she leaned back against Quinn's legs as she was sat on the floor.

Quinn was scooping in her meal as she answered, "Well," she said as she swallowed her food before continuing, "The rangers said that they'd keep an eye out with the hunters going in and out of the park, unfortunately there's not much they can do with regards to fining people if they can't catch them red handed at it, the guys whose trap caught Brittany weren't found either, and the guys we heard hunting out in the woods deny that they use traps,"

"What about the poor fox?"

"They cleaned it up before checking the area for any more traps, they found at least another ten in the area which creeps me out,"

"That kinda sucks," Rachel said as she paused and looked at Brittany who was currently sleeping next to her, the dog's head resting on her lap.

"It does," Quinn said with a sigh, "At least Puppy's okay,"

"I say we go back and catch those assholes," Santana said.

"And then what?" Quinn asked, "We could be there for days without anyone showing up and even if they do, what if they have weapons? Then what?"

Santana tried to think of a solution but couldn't quite come up with one at that moment.

"Look, the rangers said that they'll do what they can and we should trust them on that, that said, if we ever do go back we should just keep an eye out so that Brittany doesn't get hurt again," Sam said as everyone nodded in agreement.

"I don't think we'll go back on that trail for a while," Rachel said, "Why don't we stick to the parks around here, Puppy loves them just as much,"

Sam nodded his head at that.

After a moment Mike stood up and stretched before saying, "Well guys, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to call it a night, it's been one hell of a day,"

"Same here," Tina added, "I'll see you all in the morning,"

"Goodnight," Rachel, Quinn, Santana, and Sam said as the two disappeared to their separate rooms.

"I think I'm going to go join Mike," Sam said, "I'm beat,"

"Night Sam," Rachel said as Quinn and Santana waved goodnight to him.

When he was also gone, Rachel looked at the other two and said, "So, are you two going to retire for the night?"

"Not quite yet," Santana said as she picked up all the plates and so to go wash them.

"You don't have to clean them Santana, I can do that," Rachel said.

"Nah, it's okay, gives me something to do as we chat about whatever,"

"I'll go dry the dishes," Quinn said as she stood up and Rachel smiled at her.

Brittany on the other hand just let out a peaceful and content sound as she just kept dreaming.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there you have it team. I hope you enjoyed that. Until next time.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN:** Hello fellow human beings. I am back. Apologise for the very, very, LONG delay in me updating chapters for all my stories. But you know, life - and right now I'm ill but I figured I'd write a bit since I'm up from resting.  
Also, I apologise to 'burglover421' - I stated to you that I was going to write this chapter quite a while ago and I didn't follow through on that promise. My apologise. But thank you for emailing/pming me to see if I was holding up okay a while ago.

Also a note, just a reminder,please be aware that the characters are a bit OOC at times as that is how they're written as I like to have some of their characteristics from the show, but I do like to have my own take on them; and also some of them can be very frustrating. It is how the story is written and I have no plans on changing how I planned the story out. So please bear with me.

So, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 21:**

It was now the final week of their school holidays and Rachel was currently still asleep in bed when the sun shone through her window in the morning. It had been a few days now since she had returned home from the camping trip and needless to say that the rest of her holiday wasn't as eventful. In fact it was downright boring.

The crew found that as the holidays were drawing to a close, their clubs had their respective chores to do and things to prepare for the upcoming semester. Today would've been an exception and everyone should've been free, Rachel had hoped; only to find out that Santana would be home with her mother and having their bonding day, Tina was at a community event that her mother made her go to, Sam was spending the day with his siblings, Mike was travelling out of town for the next two days to a technology and gadgets convention, and Quinn, actually Rachel had no idea what Quinn was up to that day, something about Skype-ing her sister because she had to talk to her about doing something of some nature.  
So Rachel decided that today she was just going to keep sleeping and avoid the world outside.

 _"Whine!"_ a high pitch whine was heard coming from the floor, well, maybe she couldn't remain sleeping any more.

"No," Rachel mumbled as she turned and pulled the blankets over her head.

Brittany whined again as she waited for the brunette to get up.

"No," Rachel said again.

Brittany huffed before she barked and jumped onto the bad.

"Bounder... Britt, today is a day for sleeping," Rachel muffled into the pillow.

Brittany barked loudly at her.

"You have food, Mike built that really cool food holder for you where you push your paws onto the board to get the food into your bowl, so shush," Rachel grumbled.

Brittany licked the side of Rachel's head and tried to snuggle into the brunette.

"You have water too, I know you do," Rachel said as she turned to look at the dog.

Brittany just barked and jumped around from one end of the bed to another as Rachel smiled with a sigh.

"You wanna go for a walk?" Rachel asked as she sat up and looked at the now very happy dog.

Brittany jumped off the bed and then began to jump up and down in one spot, barking happily, before racing away to the living room and running back in with the leash firmly in her jaws.

"Okay, okay, you win, let's go for a walk, the day's not too bad, wanna play Frisbee?" Rachel asked as she rubbed her tired eyes.

Brittany just nodded her head as she dropped the leash and barked happily as she shook her doggy butt and wagged her tail furiously, making Rachel chuckled as she got out of bed and got dressed.

-page break-

The sunny day wasn't too bad as Brittany was tugging on the leash and Rachel was walking in forced steps just behind her and trying not to laugh at the dog's enthusiasm at getting to the park.

When they were there, Rachel pulled her hoodie even tighter around her as she noticed that more people were out and about today. She didn't mind being at the park, she just wasn't a fan of being there when there were a lot of people about. She just couldn't stand the staring. Though she supposed that she'd have to get used to it as she knew that one day she wouldn't have her friends around with her anymore and she'd have to make sure that she could get by on her own and that meant having to deal with rude people and people who would just stare at her like she was some Zoo animal.

When the pair reached their usual favourite spot, Brittany barked happily as she jumped from one spot to another, waiting for Rachel to throw the Frisbee.

"Okay, here we go," Rachel smiled as she threw the Frisbee and watched as Brittany happily raced after it.

The brunette sighed at that as Brittany ran back to her in triumph, Frisbee held firmly in her teeth.

Rachel patted the dog's head as she decided to sit down as she took the Frisbee from Brittany and threw it again. This time she threw it a further distance. The dog happily barked as she raced after it at great speed.

As Brittany raced away to catch the Frisbee, Rachel sighed again as she thought about her life recently. It had been a great change going from having no one to having a group of friends, it truly was, and she supposed that that was a silver lining of having this current curse. Plus she had a girlfriend now, but something wasn't sitting right with the brunette, something just wasn't fitting and she couldn't put her finger on it.  
No, it had nothing to do with the fact that Quinn hadn't told her parents about them being a couple. After all, even though the Fabray parents loved her and were accepting of Rachel's parents, almost everyone knows that it's one thing when it's your friends or someone else is Queer, but when it's your own family member, well, that's a whole new kettle of fish. Rachel understood Quinn's reluctance there.  
No, it had nothing to do with the fact that they'd be going back to school and the fact that Quinn would still be a bit of an Ice Queen there to other people to make sure she maintained her top dog spot.  
It was just something Rachel had noticed as they hung out together the last few days. It had something to do with Quinn's eyes every time the two of them were together; it was like the blonde wanted to say something so badly but she just didn't know how to. It was as if a gathering sadness was there that Rachel wanted to understand but Quinn wouldn't let her.

Rachel sighed as a sound brought her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, Bounder," Rachel said as she realised that she had been away with the fairies for a while and Brittany had been sat close to her, Frisbee next to the brunette's foot, patiently waiting for her to respond to her nudges and then worried when she didn't which had caused her to whine a bit with worry.

Brittany moved a bit closer and nudged Rachel again and wanting to cuddle her as Rachel obliged and wrapped her arms around her friend.

"I'm just thinking B," Rachel said as Brittany turned and licked her face and looked at her, "I don't know, it's about Quinn,"

Brittany let out a worried yet curious sound.

"I don't know, I like her, don't get me wrong, but something is amiss B, something is just, she's not really happy and I can see it, I want to be there for her but I just, I don't know what to do," Rachel said, "You get what I mean?"

Oh Brittany got it alright, something didn't sit right with her either.

Brittany just looked at Rachel with concerned eyes as the brunette patted her head.

"Mommy look, an ugly person," a little boy said as he pointed at Rachel.

Rachel stiffened at that as Brittany growled.

"Jonathan that's a bad thing to say, best to ignore people like that, she's probably on drugs and will be dangerous," his mother tried to whisper but Rachel heard it anyway, and while the brunette was hurt, she didn't really care.

Brittany on the other hand growled angrily and started barking, scaring the boy.

"Hey, watch it you mutt," the woman started.

"No you watch it," Rachel said sharply as she looked up at the woman walking pass, "My dog doesn't like rude people and you're being rude, I may look hideous but I am no druggie, I was in an accident, so perhaps you should teach your son better and brush up on your own attitude towards people who are different,"

"Whatever," the woman said as she turned to walk away.

"HEY!" another voice rang out making everyone turn.

Brittany barked happily as Santana walked up to them.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, you can, you bests apologise to my friend for being a rude bitch," Santana spat.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you heard me, apologise to my friend,"

"How can you even know I was being rude?"

"Because I can see it written on her face you puta, Rachel here is my girl and she is my friend, so if anyone hurts her I will always have her back, so apologise,"

The woman said nothing as she turned to walk away. Her son being dragged behind her as he kept looking back at Rachel.

"HEY!" Santana started.

"Booky it's okay," Rachel said as she tried to calm the Latina down, "There'll always be people like her around,"

"Rachel it's not okay, this is not okay, you can't let people like her talk shit about you,"

"Sanny it's okay, people like her are a waste of time, they'll always think what they think, one day she'll learn better,"

"Well I hope so," Santana said as she sat down next to the brunette, picked up the Frisbee and threw it for Brittany to chase after.

"I thought you were having a mother daughter day today?" Rachel said after a moment.

"Yeah, we did, but she got called in to work, so I figured I'd hang out with you, I went to your place but you weren't there, you didn't answer your cell, so I figured I'd try here and I'm glad I did,"

Rachel just smiled at her.

"You okay?" Santana asked in concern.

"Yeah I'm good, just thinking," Rachel answered.

"About?"

"Quinn?"

"Oh?"

"Well, it's just, we've been going slow, you know, and I know originally we were just going to go super slower and have a date night once a week for an hour, but she's been over the last couple of days where we had home dates which is great, and we were talking about increasing the number of times we hung out as the two of us, which is also fine by me, but something isn't, it just, it's like she wants to connect so badly but something is bothering her so much and she doesn't want to talk to me about,"

"You want me to talk with her about it?"

"No, she'll just close up, I figured she'd tell me in due time, I just want to make her happy Booky, I want to be the reason she smiles every day,"

"And I'm sure you will be, she's better than she used to be though,"

"Hmmm," Rachel said as she looked at Brittany trotting back to them, Frisbee firmly in her mouth.

"Can I be honest with you though?" Santana asked as she took the Frisbee and threw it again for Brittany to chase.

"Always,"

"I honestly think something is up though, and I think it has all to do with her sister,"

"What makes you say that?"

"Frannie used to be this really nice person, like so nice that Russel and Judy would look like devils, but one day something changed and I don't know what it was, but when she reached sophomore year at High School she just changed, she started being terrible to Russ and Juds, she was terrible to Q, she just, I don't know what it was, but if you knew her before you'd be shocked, and Q, Q just loves her sister so much that it hurts me,"

"How so?"

"Watching your best friend be under her sister's thumb is not a fun thing Yentl, watching Q do everything to be popular so that her sister will love her, it's just so sad, I can't say much you know because I craved that kind of popularity, but something about how Q goes about it just makes me sad, even if I didn't tell her at first, I know some people won't get it, you know, I know some people won't get why she would go through such lengths for her sister, but you can't judge someone unless you're them, for some people family is everything, and I know that for Q, I just wish she'd see that Francine is using her as a toy that she can hurt,"

"I see what you mean and I'd never judge Quinn like that, though I hope that she'll see that we as her friends do love her and will be there for her and I hope that she'll understand that even though our relationship as girlfriends is only just starting, I do want to be there for her,"

"I know, I just wish she'd see it, you know, I wish she'd see that her sister just doesn't love her and that there are people who love her for who she is and I want her to be free of her sister's grasps, that girl knows how to mess with Q's head and I worry about this, I just, I just feel that she's dating you to prove something to her sister and I think it's fucked up if that's the truth,"

"But you don't know that though,"

"No, I don't, but I do worry about it and I'll be honest, it's crossed my mind a few times,"

"Then lets hope it's not true,"

"Hmmm,"

Rachel smiled at Santana and said, "Thank you for caring though Santana, I do appreciate it,"

"Hey, I love and care for you, you're like a sister to me now, I'll always have your back," Santana said as she smiled at Rachel, "And I'm not afraid of showing it anymore, nowadays I just sit there angry at myself that I wasted all this time being a bitch and treating you like shit because of some stupid popularity contest that won't last outside of high school,"

"But you grew and that's cool,"

"Yeah, and it only took you and B getting cursed to do so, it's a pretty messed up way of going about it, and I'm so sorry Rachel,"

"But you're here now and that's great, so you're forgiven, don't beat yourself up over it,"

Santana just smiled at Rachel as she patted the brunette's back.

A pained whine could be heard making the two look over at Brittany who had just gotten back to them and was now laying on the ground in agony.

"B? Are you okay?" Santana asked in a panic tone as she got up and rushed over to the poor dog as Rachel followed suit.

Brittany just whined even more in agony.

"God, Brittany, are you okay? Should we take her to the vet?" Rachel asked in worry as Santana was seen nodding her head at that suggestion.

"Vet sounds like a good idea, I have my car," Santana said as the two got up and carried the poor pained dog to the car.

* * *

The trip to the vet wasn't that helpful in Santana's opinion, in the end he couldn't seem to figure out what was causing the poor dog pain, so he prescribed some medication that should help and that if it got worse in the morning to bring Brittany back in and they'd have to do tests.

Rachel thanked him as she and Santana took Brittany home.

When they got to Rachel's apartment, the two laid Brittany down on her doggy bed before making themselves some food to eat and deciding on a movie to watch. They picked a romantic drama.

The story was interesting, though it was quite sappy in Santana's opinion, but it was a good story.

"You needing some tissues there?" Rachel asked in a teasing tone.

"No, shut up," Santana said as she wiped her tears a bit.

Rachel laughed as she handed the Latina a box of tissues as the movie credits slowly started to roll, "I didn't know you were such a sook,"

"These kind of stories just get to me, okay, I may be a bitch but my heart isn't made of stone...anymore," Santana grumbled.

"That is true, you did say you love me," Rachel grinned.

"Hey, as much as I love and care for you now Yentl," Santana started then put a fist to her heart and hit against it, "This heart belongs to Brittany and only Brittany,"

"I know that, you know I was teasing," Rachel said with smile.

"Yeah, yeah," Santana smiled back as the two settled into a peaceful silence together.

As the two were quiet for that moment, a pair of slender arms wrapped themselves around Santana's shoulders from behind making the Latina jump and Rachel scream.

"WHA!" Rachel yelped as Santana spun around to see a pair of blue eyes looking back at her.

"Brittany?" she started, "You're here, I, you,"

"You're NAKED!" Rachel yelped as Brittany just looked at her and shrugged.

"B, you're, you're back," Santana said as tears fell from her face as she got up and climbed over the couch so that she could pull the blonde into a hug and hold her tightly, her fingers running through the blonde's hair.

Rachel, not wanting to ruin the moment slipped away to get something for the tall blonde to wear.

She could hear Santana quietly talking in the living room.

"Oh B, I missed you so much, human you that is," Santana said.

"I missed you too S, and our sweet lady kisses," Brittany smiled back.

Santana smiled at that as she kept holding on to Brittany then realising that Rachel was still around.

"Oh, Yentl, I'm so sorry, uh, Rachel?" Santana started as she pulled herself away from Brittany and tried to find the brunette who had disappeared.

"I didn't want to ruin your moment so I got Brittany some clothes," Rachel said as she slowly entered the living room and held out some clothing for Brittany to wear.

"Thanks Rachie," Brittany smiled as she started to put the clothes on, "Where'd you get these?"

"I brought them from your place before we left, you know, I knew you'd change back one day and I wanted you to have something to wear," Rachel rambled as she looked down at the ground.

Brittany pulled Rachel into a tight hug, "Thank you,"

"You should thank Santana, she brought you back," Rachel muffled as she hugged Brittany back too.

"But how?" Santana asked.

"It was part of the curse, you had to love and care for someone other than me and you have," Brittany smiled as she looked over at the still stunned Latina.

"But you don't have to continue loving me, you don't have to be around me anymore if you don't want to," Rachel muffled through Brittany's top making the blonde frown as she looked at the top of Rachel's head.

"Like hell," Santana said fiercely, "You are my family now Berry, you will always be my family no matter what, and this, getting B back, it's not going to change anything, I meant what I said in the park, I have your back and I'll always have your back,"

Rachel smiled as she looked at the Latina and said, "Thank you,"

-page break-

That evening Rachel looked over at the empty side of her bed as she sniffed a bit. It was an empty and lonely house now that Brittany had gone home. Not that the tall blonde had wanted to.

But Rachel insisted that she did as she knew that Mrs. Pierce would love to see her daughter again. So Santana took Brittany home before she headed off home too as her mother had called her and asked her to come home as she was done with work earlier than expected. Santana had wanted to be with Rachel that evening but the brunette had also insisted that the Latina spend more time with her mother, so she had relented and had gone home too.

And now the loneliness had crept in as Rachel cried as she held on to the dog toys in the now quiet and lonely apartment.

She cried so much that she didn't hear someone enter her home, not that she'd care at this point.

She kept crying as she felt someone sit on her bed and hold her in their arms.

And she still cried as she heard a soft voice say behind her, "Just cry Rachel, I'm here for you,"

And that is what Rachel continued to do, she cried, she cried as she now felt the loss of her canine friend, and she cried as she felt Quinn continue to hold her tightly and telling her that everything was going to be okay as she would place a soft kiss every so often on the side of the brunette's head.

* * *

 **AN 2:** And there you have it team. I hope you enjoyed that. Until next time. (I will update my stories when I can, I just have a lot of work nowadays which leaves me feeling incredibly tired); plus being a bit crook now, I don't like being up very much. That said, I have decided that in order to get through my stories I would try and just finish them one at a time. So I picked this story to finish off first, and then I'll try and finish Saw, since that one has been around forever.


End file.
